CARACAS.- Although the coach of the soccer team Venezuelathe Argentine Fernando ‘Bocha’ Batista, tries to turn off alarms, his team is going through a dangerous moment: a 2-1 defeat against Paraguay took him out of the access area to the 2026 World Cup.
“Whoever doesn’t trust this group, that’s his problem. I trust the boys to death,” Batista told reporters after Tuesday’s fall at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium in Asunción.
“There is still a long way to go. There are 24 points left at stake and, for that reason, the boys and I are calm. We are very angry, we were winning, but that’s how the tie is,” said the coach.
It was a crucial match for a Vinotinto team of ups and downs, which five days earlier had earned a valuable 1-1 draw at home with the world champion and two-time champion of America, Argentina. A double from Antonio Sanabria, who came off the bench for Gustavo Alfaro’s Paraguay, turned the score around after Venezuela took the lead at half-time.
With 11 points on the scoreboard, the Venezuelan team was displaced to eighth place in the South American qualifying table.
Argentina, with 22 units; Colombia, with 19; Uruguay and Brazil, with 16; and Ecuador and Paraguay, with 15; They occupy the first six places, which will give direct places to the World Cup. Bolivia, with 12, is on the seventh step, which provides a ticket for the play-offs.
Peru and Chile close with six and five units, respectively.
“We have to turn the page, look forward and be positive,” Batista said.
“Show your face”
Venezuela will host Brazil and visit Chile in November, forced to react no matter what.
After having added 7 of the first 12 points they played in the qualifiers, which raised the hopes of the only South American country that has never been to the World Cup, ‘Bocha’ Batista’s team has achieved only 4 of the last 18. They did, however, have a good Copa América, in which they won their three first phase matches before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada in a penalty shootout.
“We have to be out (of the positions that distribute World Cup quotas), but neither yesterday were we classified nor today are we eliminated. We have to show our faces, accept what is happening to us and reverse the situation,” commented Jon Aramburu, scorer of the goal. vinotinto in Asunción.
Aramburu put his team ahead in the 25th minute, after taking advantage of a precise pass from Yeferson Soteldo, but Sanabria’s scores in the 59th and 74th minutes sealed the painful defeat.
“There is still a lot left and I have faith (…). I think football has been a little unfair to us,” continued the Real Sociedad right-back in a post-match interview on the Venezuelan national team’s YouTube channel.
Soteldo, go down
Venezuela had a debutant: center back Rubén Ramírez (Cusco FC, Peru) took Yordan Osorio’s place in the lineup due to an injury to his teammate.
Ramírez looked solvent.
La Vinotinto did miss their usual ‘5’, José ‘El Brujo’ Martínez, in the middle of the field, who had to serve a suspension due to the accumulation of yellow cards. Batista took risks in search of a victory that has been resisting, preferring to play without a pure midfielder and betting on a double pivot of strong players with Cristian Cásseres Jr. and Yangel Herrera. Things were not given to him.
A significant loss is already emerging in Venezuela’s upcoming match against Brazil at the Monumental Stadium in Maturín: Soteldo, this time, will be the one suspended.
