Copa America – 3rd place play-off – Venezuela making history
By David, BettingExpert.com | Published
For a nation which had only managed to win two games in its previous participations at the oldest tournament in the World, finding themselves battling for a place on the podium is a bonus over what has already been a historic July for them.
Peru – Venezuela
Neither of the two teams has excelled in their propensity for attacking the opponent. Perhaps, given the end results and the teams left on the arena, theirs was the right choice. All-out attacking teams like Chile and Brazil found themselves out of contention for the trophy at the quarter-final stages. Of course there has been a component of luck in many of the remaining teams’ exploits but tactical acuity has paid off for everyone this time around.
Markarian best played his cards against Colombia, making use of the counter-attacking weapon very efficiently. Against a more solid Uruguay, now playing together for five years, it was a much tougher ask. Uruguay did not take the initiative early on. In fact in the first semifinal match played it was Peru which proved determined the most, looking for a crucial goal in the first half. However, Uruguay stood solid and stung with the lethal pace of Liverpool striker Suarez. After that Peru could not manage to get back into the game.
Venezuela’s exit was definitely a more sour one. They probably deserved to go through more than Paraguay. Neutral fans would have cheered for the minnows as they had a goal disallowed for an offside and hit three posts throughout the 120 minutes of play, before losing on penalties.
The normally defensive-minded team of Farias found themselves face to face with the side which more than any other excels in seeking to defend first and foremost. In fact it was Farias who finally gave in and asked his troops to advance on the enemy, aided by numerical superiority after Paraguay were left with ten men. It was to no avail though as Paraguay resisted the onslaught and extended play time to penalties.
This will be another match between two squads usually focused more on their backlines. Markarian is the oldest manager to have guided a team to Argentina whilst his counterpart, Farias, is the youngest. Both will be looking to get their team as high as possible, pushing them on into this last test but neither should abandon his prudent approach.
Peru’s situation had already been a dire one when they lost key men like Pizarro and Farfan ahead of the tournament. Guerrero managed to recover from a knee ligament injury just ahead of the first match and it was mainly his and Vargas’ killer instinct in attack that helped them get the goals until now. Their fuel tanks did look like emptying fast after the win over Colombia in the quarter-finals though. At this point I would not see them in the best shape to take on this match, especially since their captain and team strong point Vargas will be suspended for this appointment.
Venezuela, on the other hand, seem to have been growing as the games went by. They started the tournament well but many had labeled their stalemate against Brazil in their opening match as a coincidence. Eventually they won against Ecuador and recovered a game that was almost lost against Paraguay. With their victory over Chile in the quarter-finals and the draw over 120 minutes against Paraguay they have won two and drawn three in total. A record which goes well over what they had achieved in their preceding participations at the Copa America. Recovering Venezuela president Hugo Chavez will be ecstatic and awaiting for a historic third place finish, and the players may just make this a gift which a whole nation will not be forgetting about soon.
Verdict: Venezuela 0:0
Peru may be the favourites but with Vargas adding his name to the list of absentees and Venezuela determined to keep their momentum going I will be backing the claim of Farias and his players to write their names in the history of Venezuelan football.
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