By Thales Machado, direct from Buenos Aires
A few years ago, having Venezuela as the opponent was the guarantee of the achievement of victory. In a country that has boxing and basketball as the most popular sports, Venezuela regularly finished bottom of the South American World Cup qualifying section. In recent years, football has been growing in the country. Things have improved slightly in recent tournaments, and they reached the quarter-finals when they hosted the Copa America in 2007. However, the crowning glory was the 2-0 victory over Brazil’s Dunga in a friendly played in 2009.
Venezuela hope to continue in this spirit of growth for the 2011 Copa America in Argentina. The goal is to continue expanding, to do a good job again, and maybe qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The main strength of Venezuela is not one player or another but team work. Valued by the federal government, soccer is growing thanks to investments in the country. The group has produced a few big stars, but it works for some time together, and brings new features never before seen in the country, with a strikeforce of two players at decent sides in Spain, something unthinkable a few years ago, formed by Nicolas Fedor of Getafe and Salomon Rondon of Malaga. The group still consists of several players who play in South America, and other Europeans, such as Juan Arango of Borussia Monchengladbach, who is perhaps the highlight of the team. Twente in the Netherlands and Wolfsburg and Hamburg in Germany are other teams that provide players in the exciting new selection of Venezuela.
The preparation showed some mixed performances by the team. It saw wins against Guatemala and Mexico, but lost at home 3-0 to the mighty Spain. They did manage to play well against the world champions, with each of the goals coming due to individual mistakes.
Despite the recent recovery, Venezuelans know how difficult it is to overcome Brazil, their first opponents. Even though they are considered a threat for the first time, Venezuela will still focus on taking their points from Ecuador and Paraguay to advance to the quarter-finals for only the second time in their history.
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Renny Vega (Caracas, VEN), Jose Leonardo Morales (Deportivo Anzoategui, VEN) Dani Hernandez (Real Murcia, ESP).
Defenders: Jose Manuel Rey (Mineros de Guayana, VEN), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo (Deportivo Anzoategui, VEN), Gabriel Cichero (Newell’s Old Boys, ARG), Roberto Rosales (FC Twente, NED), Grenddy Perozo (Boyaca Chico, COL), Alexander David Gonzalez (Caracas, VEN), Jose Luis Granados (Real Esppor, VEN).
Midfielders: Giacomo Di Giorgi (Deportivo Anzoategui, VEN), Tomas Rincon (Hamburg, DEU), Cesar Eduardo Gonzalez (Gimnasia, ARG), Luis Manuel Seijas (Santa Fe, COL), Franklin Lucena (Caracas, VEN), Juan Arango (Borussia Monchengladbach, DEU), Yohandry Orozco (Wolfsburg, DEU), Jesus Meza (Atlas, MEX).
Forwards: Nicolas Fedor (Getafe, ESP), Giancarlo Maldonado (Atlante, MEX), Alejandro Moreno (Chivas USA, USA), Jose Salomon Rondon (Malaga, ESP), Daniel Arismendi (Deportivo Anzoategui, VEN).
Group Stage:
Brazil, July 3 in La Plata
Ecuador, July 9 in Salta
Paraguay, July 13 in Salta
Statistics:
FIFA Ranking: 68
Appearances in the Copa America: 14
Best performance: Quarter-finals in 2007
Last Copa America: Lost to Uruguay in the quarter-finals
Follow the teams analysed by Sambafoot:
GROUP A:
GROUP B:
Don’t miss Sambafoot’s previews of the twelve competing teams. Next up is Chile, who are on the rise after a good World Cup in South Africa.
