Venezuela national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Venezuela
Badge = Venezuela_football_association.gif
FIFA Trigramme = VEN
Nickname = "La Vinotinto"
(The Burgundy)
Association = Federación Venezolana
de Fútbol
Confederation = CONMEBOL (South America)
Coach = Flagicon|Venezuela César Farías (2007-)
Most caps = José Manuel Rey (101)
Captain = Juan Arango
Top scorer = Giancarlo Maldonado (15)
Home Stadium = Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo,
Estadio José Pachencho Romero,

Estadio Olímpico Luis Ramos
FIFA Rank = 61
1st ranking date = August 1993
FIFA max = 48
FIFA max date = April 2004
FIFA min = 129
FIFA min date = November 1998
Elo Rank = 45
Elo max = 38
Elo max date = April 2004
Elo min = 127
Elo min date = 1993, 1995, 1999

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pattern_la2=_adidasstripesonwhite|pattern_b2=_orangearc|pattern_ra2=_adidasstripesonwhite|pattern_sh2=_adidaswhite|pattern_so2=_Galatasaray0809 Home
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First game = Flagicon|Panama Panama 3 - 1 Venezuela Flagicon|Venezuela|1930 (Panama City, Panama; 12 February, 1938)
Largest win = Flagicon|Venezuela|1930 Venezuela 6 - 0 Puerto Rico Flagicon|Puerto Rico (Barranquilla, Colombia; 26 December, 1946)
Largest loss = Flagicon|Argentina Argentina 11 - 0 Venezuela Flagicon|Venezuela|1930 (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 10 August, 1975)

World cup apps =
World cup first =
World cup best =
Regional name = Copa América
Regional cup apps = 14
Regional cup first = 1967
Regional cup best = Fifth place, 1967The 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.

Unlike other South American nations, baseball is extremely popular in Venezuela, which may divert athletic talent away from football, contributing to its historic lack of success in CONMEBOL competitions.

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.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.

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.

Current team status

Venezuela is currently participating in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

2010 FIFA World Cup
Qualification Standings

;Midfielders

Top Venezuela goalscorers

elected famous players

*Juan Arango
*José Luis Dolgetta
*Rafael Dudamel
*Massimo Margiotta
*Luis Mendoza
*Alejandro Moreno
*Ruberth Morán
*Giovanni Savarese
*Fernando de Ornelas
*Stalin Rivas
*Gabriel Urdaneta
*Félix Hernandez
*Giancarlo Maldonado
*Ricardo Paez

External links

*es_icon [http://www.federacionvenezolanadefutbol.org/ Federacion Venezolana De Fútbol] The Venezuelan soccer federation website.
*es_icon [http://www.lavinotinto.com La Vinotinto] - The last news about Venezuelan professional soccer and more.
*es_icon [http://www.vinotintosenexterior.com/ Vinotintos en el exterior] The last news about Venezuelan players abroad.
* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/venez-recintlp.html Venezuela - Record International Players] (at RSSSF)
*es_icon [http://www.furiavinotinto.com/ FuriaVinotinto] The Unofficial Forum.