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<SPAN class=art-title2>Venezuela moving on up</SPAN> <TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
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<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Daniel Ariasmendi celebrates scoring for Venezuela in the 1-0 win over Ururguay on 27 September 2006.
</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN> <SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>Juan BARRETO
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<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">26 Oct 2006</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>Slowly but surely, football is winning over more and more admirers in Venezuela. One of the mainreasons behind the inexorable rise of the game in a country where baseball and basketball rule supreme is the recent exploits of the national team, dubbed the Vinotinto.
Such has been the upturn in their fortunes of late that they have awoken widespread domestic interest in the game, something that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. It is no surprise then to see this upsurge in popularity reflected in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, with Venezuela rising eight places to 72nd overall, the highest jump of all the CONMEBOL countries in October.
In a mirror image of the final standings in the qualifying group for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, the upwardly mobile Venezuelans are now ranked above more traditional South American powers such as Peru and Bolivia. Of course, the question now is: can they maintain their upward curve? The upcoming Copa America 2007, to be hosted on Venezuelan soil for the very first time, should go some way to providing an answer.<TABLE id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR id=TRCAP><TD vAlign=bottom align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Venezuela coach Richard Paez smiles during a training session on 12 November 2001 at the Municipal Stadium in Sao Luis, northern Brazil.</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRSOURCE><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRAUTHOR><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>Mauricio LIMA </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Paez the saviour
Almost to a man, the country's football fans are agreed on the main factors in this gradual but no less striking transformation.
The foundations for today's success were laid at the end of the 1990s by the late Argentine coach Jose Omar Pastoriza. His sterling work would be continued by current incumbent Richard Paez, who made his debut as coach on 28 March 2001 in a Korea/Japan 2002 qualifying game against Argentina in Buenos Aires. Lying rock bottom of the group with three points out of a possible 30, it came as no surprise when Paez's new charges endured a 5-0 hammering at the Estadio Monumental.
Undeterred by the seeming hopelessness of his task, Paez rolled uphis sleeves and got to work. In a remarkable turnaround Venezuela picked up 13 points in their last seven games, stringing together four consecutive wins including a 2-0 triumph over Chile in Santiago.
Although they missed out on qualification for the Far East and failed to make much of an impact at the Copa America in 2001 and 2004, a superb start to the Germany 2006 campaign saw them register a 3-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo and a 1-0 victory away to Colombia in Barranquilla, generating unprecedented interest in the game. Even though Venezuelan dreams of reaching the finals for the first time ultimately faded, the progress made by South America's one-time whipping boys was clear for all to see
</TD></TR><TR class=paddingall><TD vAlign=top>
<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Daniel Ariasmendi celebrates scoring for Venezuela in the 1-0 win over Ururguay on 27 September 2006.</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN> <SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>Juan BARRETO
</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">26 Oct 2006</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>Slowly but surely, football is winning over more and more admirers in Venezuela. One of the mainreasons behind the inexorable rise of the game in a country where baseball and basketball rule supreme is the recent exploits of the national team, dubbed the Vinotinto.
Such has been the upturn in their fortunes of late that they have awoken widespread domestic interest in the game, something that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. It is no surprise then to see this upsurge in popularity reflected in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, with Venezuela rising eight places to 72nd overall, the highest jump of all the CONMEBOL countries in October.
In a mirror image of the final standings in the qualifying group for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, the upwardly mobile Venezuelans are now ranked above more traditional South American powers such as Peru and Bolivia. Of course, the question now is: can they maintain their upward curve? The upcoming Copa America 2007, to be hosted on Venezuelan soil for the very first time, should go some way to providing an answer.<TABLE id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR id=TRCAP><TD vAlign=bottom align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Venezuela coach Richard Paez smiles during a training session on 12 November 2001 at the Municipal Stadium in Sao Luis, northern Brazil.</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRSOURCE><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRAUTHOR><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>Mauricio LIMA </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Paez the saviourAlmost to a man, the country's football fans are agreed on the main factors in this gradual but no less striking transformation.
The foundations for today's success were laid at the end of the 1990s by the late Argentine coach Jose Omar Pastoriza. His sterling work would be continued by current incumbent Richard Paez, who made his debut as coach on 28 March 2001 in a Korea/Japan 2002 qualifying game against Argentina in Buenos Aires. Lying rock bottom of the group with three points out of a possible 30, it came as no surprise when Paez's new charges endured a 5-0 hammering at the Estadio Monumental.
Undeterred by the seeming hopelessness of his task, Paez rolled uphis sleeves and got to work. In a remarkable turnaround Venezuela picked up 13 points in their last seven games, stringing together four consecutive wins including a 2-0 triumph over Chile in Santiago.
Although they missed out on qualification for the Far East and failed to make much of an impact at the Copa America in 2001 and 2004, a superb start to the Germany 2006 campaign saw them register a 3-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo and a 1-0 victory away to Colombia in Barranquilla, generating unprecedented interest in the game. Even though Venezuelan dreams of reaching the finals for the first time ultimately faded, the progress made by South America's one-time whipping boys was clear for all to see