Hello friends, good vibes to all.

Fuente.

Why do I ask myself this question? - You have to remember that in a little more than 2 months the Copa America begins in the United States, so these friendly matches were very necessary to see where we stand in the face of the tournament. It is very likely that we will have friendly matches again just before the start of the tournament, that is something that depends entirely on the federation, but we know that there are possibilities. In terms of points, our team got 1 out of six possible points, which for me is unacceptable and even more so if we take into account that our last rival was a very worthy Guatemala, but man for man the Vinotinto is three times better. That was a game to win but it was not the case.

To all this we must add that the group in which Venezuela will be in the Cup is already known, we will face Mexico, Ecuador and Jamaica, a group that may bring us complications assuming that Ecuador, the team that beat Guatemala, are the leaders of the group. But we will talk about this another time, today I want to comment on what we saw in that match against the Central Americans and a general reflection of this FIFA date that just ended. There are several things that were quite clear to me after watching that game on Sunday, things that one already knows and knows, but that it seems that many people find it difficult to understand, be they fans, journalists, etc.

Fuente.

The first thing would be that both Tomás Rincón and Rómulo Otero are NOT ready to be starters. One can understand the hierarchical issue, especially Rincón, but we have to be realistic and accept the facts. Tomás was slow in marking, in backpedaling, in one or another ball delivery and that is normal and natural considering his age. Romulo is a player to revolutionize the last 20 minutes of a game, not to be a starter. I know that Bocha understands this because he changed them quickly but it is something that cannot be repeated. In those positions the Vinotinto has a lot of spare parts so we have to stop suffering for Tomás Rincón.

The second thing is up front. El Bocha decided to start with Cádiz and Otero as his striker, but it didn't work. At the beginning of the game we saw something on offense but it did not work, it was not enough to bother the opponent. In the second half they changed the scheme and played with two strikers, Salomón and Cordova. It did not work either. Rondón is very good as a pivot but for that you need a 9 in the box who is a killer and we don't have that figure. In general it was a bad game where Guatemala showed order and intensity and on more than one occasion put our team against the ropes to the point that Graterol became vital to keep a clean sheet.

Fuente.

Of course, a couple of things must be clear: players such as Yangel Herrera and Soteldo were not present and we all know that they are undisputed starters. And the other thing is that as part of the preparation of the younger players, a match was played behind closed doors against an alternative team of the Houston Dynamo. There we saw the pearls of Carlos Vivas, Bryant Ortega, Telasco Segovia, Matias Lacava, Jovanny Bolivar, Tuti Andrade, etc. and it must be said that they won 3-0. Yes, it was a two-module training session but it is something positive because they are taking these young players into account. Do I think they should be given more opportunities? - Yes, gradually but they should start to see minutes with the senior national team.

The Vinotinto has more future than past, I do not doubt that and even more if the faces will be these U-23 players who played a very worthy and special role in the pre-Olympic. So, after what we have seen, are we ready for the Copa América? - I would like to think so, but it is hard for me to be optimistic if we see how hard it was to keep the 0-0 draw against Guatemala and even harder not to beat them. It is difficult to get results overnight, this is a medium to long term process but time goes by and we keep saying that. What is clear is the full confidence in Bocha Batista, he is a guy that you can see that he loves, cares and is committed to the national team and the players and that is worth a lot to me.

Fuente.

What I aspire to is that we can see a national team that mixes the veteran with the quality of youth, I think that balance is important. Players like Tomás Rincón, as long as it is feasible, should not fail to be called up because of the leadership they have in the dressing room and that is something key. I am not contradicting what I said before, one thing is to be there and another is to play. And well, Segovia, Lacava, Bolivar, Ortega, are players who already have to make the leap and I hope that the Copa America will be their showcase. If all this happens, Venezuela will be ready to give a worthy and worthy show and be able to at least repeat what was done in 2011.

Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡Hugs to all, see you next time!