La Vinotinto reaffirms as the surprise of the Copa America. - SportsLounge

All the groups of the Copa America have been defined and the continental tournament has left us with some big surprises.

In the first round, the two CONCACAF top seeds, Mexico and the United States, have been kicked out of the knockout phase due to the great performance of countries like Venezuela and Panama.

In fact, ‘La Vinotinto’ managed to surprise everyone by winning all their games and climbing to the top of Group B ahead of the favorites, Mexico and Ecuador.

Against all odds, the team coached by Fernando “Bocha” Batista is shaping up to become one of the four semi finalists of the tournament, although first they will have to overcome the powerful defense of the Canadian national team.

The rise of La Vinotinto in this Copa América has not been a matter of luck, far from it. Therefore, we will review the keys of this Venezuelan national team that seeks to surpass or equal their best performance in the competition when they reached the semifinals at the Copa América in Argentina in 2011.

Rafael Romo and a solid defense for the team. One of the keys to ‘La Vinotinto’ success has been its unbreakable defense. In the three matches of the group stage, Venezuela only allowed Sarmiento’s goal against Ecuador, produced after a clearance from a free kick.

Against Mexico, the most important match for the group phase, the Venezuelan team showed physical and psychological strength to withstand the Aztecs attacking force.

In fact, in the past, Venezuela was a team characterized by conceding goals in the final moments of matches.
Yordan Osorio, Venezuela’s central back, has highlighted in several interviews the importance of the mentality promoted by Batista in the team’s performance, which has given them much more self-confidence to achieve the expected results.
With this change of mentality, added to the high performances of young players Jon Aramburu, Nahuel Ferraresi and Miguel Navarro, Venezuela has put together a defense that has already gone more than 225 minutes without receiving any goal in this Copa America. And, of course, we cannot leave Rafael Romo out of the team’s defensive performances. In his duel against Mexico, the goalkeeper from the Universidad Católica of Ecuador became the first Venezuelan goalkeeper to save a penalty kick in a Copa América match.
Rafael Romo’s statistics in Copa America 2024.
Two Clean Sheets.
One saved penalty kick.
10 saves.
Two key saves against forwards.
The Reborn of Salomon Rondón in Copa América.

Salomón Rondón arrived at this Copa América as the all-time leading scorer of the Venezuelan national team and his high level of play has been reflected in Venezuela’s good performance in the tournament.
Rondón, with his two goals, one against Mexico and the other against Jamaica, tied striker José Luis Dolgetta as the Venezuelan player with the most goals in Copa América, equaling his record of six goals.
“El Gladiador” has reaffirmed his good moment in the competition after being elected the most valuable player of the CONCACAF Champions League and having lifted the trophy with his club, Pachuca of Mexico.
In addition to his goalscoring plus, Rondón contributes substantially to the game by offering himself as a pivot to fast players such as Soteldo and Bello, who open up the field and take advantage of the fullbacks’ runs to cause damage on the sides.
With two goals and an assist, Salomón Rondón is Venezuela’s most lethal weapon in attack and one of the stars of the tournament.
Eduar Bello’s goal-scoring breakthrough and Batista’s substitutions.
Another differential aspect in the Vinotinto’s matches has been the stellar appearance of Eduar Bello at important moments.
Appearing from the right side of the attack, Bello managed to score the winning goal against Ecuador after a header by Salomón Rondón that was blocked by goalkeeper Domínguez.
Against Jamaica, the Mazatlan F.C. winger scored the first goal with an excellent header at the near post after an excellent cross from Jon Aramburu.
However, Bello, also known for his acrobatic goal against Brazil in the WC qualifiers, did not start the tournament. Batista opted to bring him on at halftime against Ecuador.
The Argentinean coach’s reading of the matches has had a positive impact on Venezuela’s play and results.
Against Ecuador, he decided to be much more offensive after Enner Valencia was sent off in the first half. The substitutions of Cádiz and Bello up front gave much more dynamism to the Venezuelan offense and allowed them to come back from a 1-0 deficit.
At the same time, against the Mexican national team, Batista started with Jefferson Savarino, but his plan did not work as expected. At halftime, the Argentinean tactician sent Cristian Cásseres to the pitch in order to rearm his line of three midfielders.
After this substitution, Venezuela was able to regain possession of the ball and position itself in the opposing field. In fact, Quiñonez’s foul for penalty kick against Aramburu came after a fast ball recovery of the team.

Ready to make history against Canada at Copa America 2024.
Now, Venezuela is getting ready to face the tough physical game of the Canada national team., led by Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich winger.

Venezuela, with its viral slogan: “Mano, tengo fe” (Bro, I have faith), will use their football skills and hope to seek a historic campaign that will take them to the semifinals once again, as happened in 2011.

One thing is clear, Venezuela is the biggest surprise of the Copa América and their current situation reaffirms that they are strong candidates to reach the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The dream of the whole nation.