The National stadium in Lagos is a 55,000 all-seater capacity venue which also has facilities for athletics events.

It is located in a congested part of Surulere district in Nigeria's commercial capital.

The stadium used to take about 100,000 fans until it was reconstructed in the late 1990s to meet soccer's world governing body Fifa's all-seating requirement for the country's hosting of the 1999 World Youth Cup.

To the locals, this stadium has the glamour of England's Wembley or Brazil's Maracana.

It is the favourite home ground of the national team, the Super Eagles, and they have not lost a game there since 1981, when Algeria beat them 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

It has floodlights, an electronic scoreboard, a lush, green pitch and plastic seats coloured white, blue and red.

Apart from the the 1999 World Youth Cup, the stadium has also hosted the 1980 African Nations' Cup and the 1973 All-Africa Games.

Lagos, with almost nine million inhabitants, is a congested, sometimes chaotic city.

Its long and time-consuming traffic jams are legendary and electricity power supply can be very erratic.

But its vibrancy and colour give it charm and, after all, it is the home of Nigerian football.

It will undoubtedly prove a spectacular venue for the final.