Venezuela national football team

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For current information on this topic, see
Venezuela fixtures and results

Venezuela

Nickname(s)

La Vinotinto
(The Burgundy)

Association

Federación Venezolana
de Fútbol

Confederation

CONMEBOL (South America)

Head coach

César Farías (2007-)

Captain

Juan Arango

Most caps

José Manuel Rey (94)

Top scorer

Ruberth Morán (14)

Home stadium

Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo,

Estadio José Pachencho Romero,

Estadio Olímpico Luis Ramos

FIFA code

VEN

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

48 (April 2004)

Lowest FIFA ranking

129 (November 1998)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

38 (April 2004)

Lowest Elo ranking

127 (1993, 1995, 1999)





First kit





Second kit

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 Burgundy), because of the traditional burgundy color of their shirts.

Venezuela is the only national team in CONMEBOL 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.

When playing at home in official games they usually rotate between two stadiums: the Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, in San Cristóbal; the Estadio José Encarnación "Pachencho" Romero, in Maracaibo. In friendly matches they tend to rotate between the rest of the stadiums in the country.

National companies such as Empresas Polar and Telephone suppliers CANTV and Movistar 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 hosted 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.

1 History
- 1.1 World Cup
- 1.2 Copa America
2 Current Team
- 2.1 Recent Call Ups
3 World Cup record
4 Copa América record
5 Pan American Games record
6 Most Venezuela caps
7 Top Venezuela goalscorers
8 Selected famous players
9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 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. They started the 2010 qualifying round by historically beating Ecuador in Quito where the Ecuadorians had previously held a long unbeaten record.

Despite poor results during the 60s and 70s, outstanding players like Luis Mendoza and Rafael Santana achieved renown.

[edit] Copa America

Venezuela first participated in the Copas 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 edition, 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.

The team's overall Copa América record has been pretty poor, but the "Auge Vinotinto" (Vinotinto Rise) period in the early 2000s brought increased attention to the sport in the country, which in turn brought increased support from both government and private institutions. Said support contributed greatly to the "Vinotinto's" rise in quality. In 2007, during the Copa América held in Venezuela, the team progressed to the quarterfinals for the first time in its history after finishing first in a group containing Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay. Venezuela's 2-0 victory over Perú during the competition was its first Copa América victory since 1967.

In June 6, 2008, Venezuela achieved its first-ever triumph over Brazil, winning the Seleção with a 2-0 score in a friendly match in Boston, USA.

[edit] Current Team

Below is the squad that played for the friendly matches against Honduras on May 30, 2008, against Brazil on June 6, 2008, and against Netherlands Antilles on June 9, 2008.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Renny Vega	July 4, 1979	28	0	Bursaspor
12	GK	Leonardo Morales	July 7, 1978			Deportivo Anzoátegui
2	DF	Jonay Hernández	February 15, 1979			Pontevedra CF
6	DF	Gabriel Cichero	April 25, 1984			Deportivo Italia
4	DF	Pedro Boada	July 26, 1977			Deportivo Anzoátegui
5	DF	Roberto Rosales	November 20, 1988			K.A.A. Gent
3	DF	José Manuel Rey	May 20, 1975	94	8	AEK Larnaca
15	DF	Juan Fuenmayor	September 5, 1979			Unión Atlético Maracaibo
21	DF	Gerzon Chacón	October 21, 1980			Deportivo Tachira
22	MF	Evelio Hernández	June 18, 1984			Zamora FC
16	MF	Tomás Rincón	January 13, 1988	7	0	Zamora FC
23	MF	César González	June 21, 1990	2	0	Deportivo Anzoátegui
14	MF	Luis Manuel Seijas	June 23, 1986			Independiente Santa Fe
17	MF	Miguel Mea Vitali	February 19, 1981	74	1	Unión Atlético Maracaibo
8	MF	Leonel Vielma	August 30, 1978	52	3	Santa Fe
20	MF	Jorge Alberto Rojas	October 1, 1977	80	2	Union Atletico Maracaibo
13	MF	Franklin Lucena	February 20, 1981			Caracas FC
10	MF	Ronald Vargas	December 2, 1986	5	2	Club Brugge
18	FW	Juan Arango	May 16, 1980	67	13	RCD Mallorca
9	FW	Giancarlo Maldonado	June 29, 1982	33	13	Atlante
19	FW	Daniel Arismendi	July 4, 1982	20	9	Atlante Fútbol Club
11	FW	Alexander Rondón	August 30, 1977			Deportivo Anzoátegui
7	FW	Nicolás Fedor	August 19, 1985	11	2	Gimnastic de Tarragona

[edit] Recent Call Ups

The following players have also been called up to the Venezuela squad.

Goalkeepers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Javier Toyo	October 12, 1977	Atlético Bucaramanga	8 (0)	v. Colombia, 30 April 2008
Giancarlos Martinez	May 21, 1979	Deportivo Italia	1 (0)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008

Defenders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Jose Luis Granados	October 22, 1986	Deportivo Tachira	4 (0)	v. Clolombia, 30 April 2008
Oswaldo Vizcarrondo	May 31, 1984	Caracas FC	12 (0)	v. Colombia, 30 April 2008
José Gonzalez	July 21, 1971	Deportivo Tachira	? (?)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Leonardo González	July 14, 1972	Trujillanos FC	? (?)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Grenddy Perozo	February 28, 1986	Deportivo Anzoátegui	? (?)	v. Bolivia, 26 March 2008
Enrique Andrés Rouga	March 2, 1982	Alki Larnaca	20 (0)	v. Haiti, 6 February 2008
Dickson Díaz	March 4, 1980	Monagas SC	? (?)	v. Haiti, 3 February 2008
Edder Pérez	July 3, 1983	C.S. Marítimo	24 (4)	v. Bolivia, 20 November 2007
Alejandro Cichero	April 20, 1977	PFC Litex Lovech	47 (2)	v. Bolivia, 20 November 2007
Luis José Vallenilla	March 13, 1974	Nea Salamis FC	77 (1)	v. Colombia, 17 November 2007

Midfielders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Carlos Fernandez	September 1, 1990	Deportivo Anzoátegui	2 (0)	v. Bolivia, 26 March 2008
Giácomo Di Giorgi	February 24, 1981	Llaneros FC	? (?)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Louis Pena	December 25, 1989	Estudiantes de Mérida	1 (0)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Luis Vargas	June 25, 1987	Trujillanos FC	1 (0)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Edgar Pérez Greco	February 16, 1982	Deportivo Tachira	? (?)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Edgar Jiménez	October 19, 1984	Caracas FC	? (?)	v. Haiti, 3 February 2008
Ricardo David Paez	February 9, 1979	Veria FC	64 (7)	v. Bolivia, 20 November 2007
Alejandro Guerra	July 9, 1985	Caracas FC	23 (3)	v. Bolivia, 20 November 2007
Luis Vera	March 9, 1973	Caracas FC	53 (2)	v. Bolivia, 20 November 2007
Héctor Gonzalez	November 4, 1977	AEK Larnaca	53 (4)	v. Ecuador, 13 October 2007
César Eduardo González	October 1, 1982	Colón de Santa Fe	18 (1)	v. Panama, 12 September 2007

Strikers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
José Torrealba	June 13, 1980	Deportivo Tachira	13 (3)	v. Colombia, 30 April 2008
Cristian Cásseres	June 29, 1977	Deportivo Italia	? (?)	v. Bolivia, 26 March 2008
Ángel Chourio	May 4, 1985	Aragua FC	1 (0)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
José Salomón Rondón	April 28, 1989	Aragua FC	3 (1)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Juan Falcon	February 24, 1989	Llaneros FC	1 (0)	v. El Salvador, 23 March 2008
Armando Maita	August 26, 1981	Unión Atlético Maracaibo	? (?)	v. Haiti, 6 February 2008
Emilio Rentería	October 9, 1984	Caracas FC	16 (9)	v. Haiti, 3 February 2008
Nicolas Fedor	August 19, 1985	Gimnàstic de Tarragona	11 (2)	v. Colombia, 17 November 2007
Heiber Diaz	November 10, 1984	Unión Lara	? (?)	v. Paraguay, 8 September 2007

[edit] World Cup record

1930 to 1954 - Did not enter
1958 - Withdrew
1962 - Did not enter
1966 - Did not qualify
1970 - Did not qualify
1974 - Withdrew
1978 to 2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] Copa América record

1916 to 1963 - Did not enter
1967 - Fifth place
1975 - Round 1
1979 - Round 1
1983 - Round 1
1987 - Round 1
1989 - Round 1
1991 - Round 1
1993 - Round 1 (overall 11th place)
1995 - Round 1 (overall 12th place)
1997 - Round 1 (overall 12th place)
1999 - Round 1 (overall 12th place)
2001 - Round 1 (overall 12th place)
2004 - Round 1 (overall 11th place)
2007 - Quarterfinals (overall 6th place)

[edit] Pan American Games record

1951 - Fourth place
1955 - Fourth place
1959 to 1979 - Did not compete
1983 - Round 1
1987 to 2003 - Did not compete

[edit] Most Venezuela caps

Player	National team career	Caps (Goals)
José Manuel Rey	1997-present	91 (8)
Gabriel Urdaneta	1996-2005	77 (9)
Luis José Vallenilla	1996-present	77 (1)
Jorge Alberto Rojas	1999-present	76 (1)
Miguel Ángel Mea Vitali	1999-present	71 (1)
Juan Arango	1999-present	70 (13)
Ruberth Morán	1996-present	65 (14)
Leopoldo Jiménez	1999-2005	64 (0)
Ricardo David Páez	2000-present	64 (7)
Rafael Dudamel	1993-2007	56 (1)
Héctor González	2001-present	53 (4)

[edit] Top Venezuela goalscorers

Player	National team career	Goals (Caps)
Ruberth Morán	1996-2007	14 (65)
Juan Arango	1999-present	13 (70)
Giancarlo Maldonado	2003-present	11 (31)
Gabriel Urdaneta	1996-2005	9 (77)
José Manuel Rey	1997-present	8 (91)
Daniel Arismendi	2006-present	8 (15)
Juan Garcia	1993-2004	7 (47)
Ricardo David Páez	2000-present	7 (64)
José Luis Dolgetta	1993-1997	6 (21)

[edit] Selected famous players

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (April 2008)

[edit] External links

(Spanish) Federacion Venezolana De Fútbol The Venezuelan soccer federation website.
(Spanish) La Vinotinto - The last news about Venezuelan professional soccer and more.
(Spanish) Vinotintos en el exterior The last news about Venezuelan Players in the exterior.
Venezuela - Record International Players (at RSSSF)
(Spanish) FuriaVinotinto The Unofficial Forum.