Venezuela national football team: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)
| Venezuela | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | La Vinotinto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | Federación Venezolana de Fútbol |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Richard Páez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Gabriel Urdaneta (69) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Juan Arango (20) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | VEN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 48 (April 2004) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 129 (November 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First international Panama 3 - 1 Venezuela (Panama City, Panama; 12 February, 1938) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biggest win Venezuela 6 - 0 Puerto Rico (Barranquilla, Colombia; 26 December, 1946) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biggest defeat Argentina 11 - 0 Venezuela (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 10 August, 1975) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copa América | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 13 (First in 1967) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Fifth place, 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Venezuela national football team is the national football team of Venezuela and is controlled by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. It is nicknamed La Vinotinto (The Red Wine One), because of the traditional burgundy color of their shirts.
It is historically and statistically the weakest of the 10 CONMEBOL teams (perhaps due to the enormous popularity of baseball in the country), and the only one which has never qualified for a World Cup. Often Venezuela would go through entire qualification tournaments without recording a single win, although this has changed in the last two qualifying rounds. Their best finish in Copa América was fifth in their first entry, in 1967. The team itself has improved a lot in recent years. Analysts tend to say that Venezuela has a chance of qualifying for the next World Cup but that the team has a lot to learn yet. Juan Arango is considered to be the best player in the current team, and gives a lot of support to his team mates.
When playing at home they usually rotate between three stadiums: the Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, in San Cristóbal; the Estadio José Encarnación "Pachencho" Romero, in Maracaibo, and the Estadio Olímpico, in Caracas.
National companies such as Empresas Polar and Telephone suppliers CANTV have been giving a lot of financial aid to the team and to the sport itself. The government is not very keen on financing these kind of activities. Nevertheless, Venezuela is set to be the host of the Copa América 2007, thus becoming the last country in South America to host this competition.
The Unofficial Football World Championship, and the related Nasazzi's baton title, was briefly held by Venezuela in 2006.
History
World Cup
Venezuela did not participate in World Cup qualifying until the 1966 qualifiers in which they were drawn with Uruguay and Peru, but failed to register a point in four games. In the 1970 qualifiers they managed to register a point, and after withdrawing from the 1974 series, repeated that in the 1978 qualifiers. The 1982 qualifiers saw them register their first win, over Bolivia. They wouldn't register another World Cup qualifying win until the 1994 series when they defeated Ecuador. A highlight of the 1998 qualifiers was goalkeeper Rafael Dudamel scoring against Argentina in a 5-2 defeat.
The 2002 and 2006 qualifiers have seen a tremendous improvement in Venezuela's fortunes, and they are now regarded as a competitive team.
Despite poor results during the 60s and 70s, outstanding players like Luis Mendoza and Rafael Santana achieved renown.
Copa America
Venezuela first participated in the Copa America in 1967, and finished 5th after defeating Bolivia 3-0 with a side containing Mendoza and Santana. The 1975 tournament saw Venezuela drawn in a group with Brazil and Argentina, and finished bottom with an 11-0 defeat to Argentina. In the 1979 series, which would be the international swansong for Mendoza and Santana, they drew 0-0 with Colombia and 1-1 with Chile. A highlight of the 1989 tournament was midfielder Carlos Maldonado's 4 goals. In the 1993 series, Venezuela drew with Uruguay and the United States. Whilst they have yet to make the later stages of the tournament, the improvement made in recent years means that this is achievable in future tournaments.
