Venezuela has never been to a World Cup. Nor has it ever won the Copa America. In fact, its best performance was achieved four years ago in Argentina, when it finished in fourth place after losing in the semifinals against Paraguay in a penalty shootout.
But tonight, Venezuela may become the first national squad to make it into the quarterfinals of the 2015 Copa America if it beats Peru in Valparaiso Elias Figueroa Stadium.
The Vinotinto, who came to Chile with many questions and few games of preparation, won a clear victory against Colombia on June 14th, and with a triumph tonight over the Incas would have six points. That would give Venezuela the green light to advance, regardless of what happens on Sunday when it faces Brazil in Santiago. That day, the C Group could present a tie between three teams with six points apiece, which would mean Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela would advance to the next round.
La Vinotinto practiced in Margarita Island and Mendoza, Argentina before going to Chile. Photo: Twitter
After the unexpected results that have been produced so far, the Venezuelans could secure their ticket to the knockout round before Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile. And don’t forget that those teams have Lionel Messi, Neymar, James Rodríguez and Arturo Vidal on their rosters, respectively.
Sanvicente is in his first official tournament as Venezuela's head coach. Photo: Twitter
"We owe a lot to Sanvicente. He found a friendly match between Colombia and Costa Rica, and learned how to disrupt the game run by [Colombia head coach] Jose Pekerman," said one of the delegates of Venezuela, Napoleon Centeno, when interviewed by Union Radio, after a 1-0 win against Colombia.
It is believed that tonight La Vinotinto will come out with same lineup, which had been questioned previously. Factors such as the lack of international experience of goalkeeper Alain Barojas, Andrés Tuñez’s slowness, including Fernando Amorebieta as a left-back instead of center-back (which is his best position), a “too old” Juan Arango, and Ronald Vargas performances after many serious injuries to his legs all were severely criticized aspects of La Vinotinto’s lineup by the Venezuelan press.
La Vinotinto depended on experienced players last Sunday. Photo: Twitter
Nevertheless, Sanvicente successfully debuted in official international matches after collecting seven championships as a head coach in the Venezuelan League. His mind is now set to compete against Peru. "The game will be difficult for them and for us...Their will always be fierce duels," said the coach. "Both teams need to win, we will for our ticket to the next round, and they will to get back into the race for the Copa," he added.
Gone are the nine months in which the Venezuelan team was without a coach after Cesar Farias resigned, and gone are the doubts that arose because pre-Copa training sessions did not take place as they did in 2011, when the team was together for over a month in Texas.
Salomon Rondon could shoot even when the Colombian defense was around him. Photo: Twitter
Every mistake will be forgotten if Salomon Rondon, one of the candidates for the FIFA 16 game cover, or any other player of La Vinotinto comes up, scores, and deals Peru its second loss of this competition. Venezuela would be the biggest surprise so far, and its fans would dream of overcoming what happened four years ago.
