GOLAZO de Juanpi vs Argentina

Venezuela’s confirmed starting line-up against Argentina

Fifteen players of Venezuela’s National Football Male Team file an open letter against the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF, in spanish)

Caracas- Fifteen players of “La Vinotinto” filed an open letter against the Venezuelan Football Federation’s coaching staff, managing team and its iterim president (given that the former president is in jail for corruption) Laureano González, of whom they pointed at for his previous public statements that there has been a movement to sabotage the current Coach’s work. 

“Letter addressed to the managers of the Venezuelan Football Federation

We accept the sports criticism regarding our performance with the national team and we take as a TEAM the responsability for these results. But we do not accept under any circumstance the statements of the Venezuelan Football Federation’s President, Laureano González, given in an interview to the journal Diario El Lider on the day of November, 25th of 2015 where he affirmed that the players were ‘making a movement to take the national team’s coach out’. 

Said statements are completely false and a violation of our honor and reputation. These attempt against our values as human beings and as professionals and even more so against a team of players that for 8 years has been competing at the top level, basing themselves in the grupal cohesion, the sense of belonging and human values. We also manifest a great disappointment and disillusionment for the lack of support from the coaching staff of our national team in the face of these accusations.

During our career we’ve learned ethical sports codes, where the situations and differences have been discussed inside the locker room and not in public light as the Federation has been doing it. Unlike the attitude of some directives, we have always kept the will to keep fighting until the last point to get our biggest goal which is qualify for Fifa’s World Cup Russia 2018, having clear what this means. As long as the Venezuelan Footbal Federation remains headed by the current managing team our dream of going to a World Cup tournament is compromised by the lack of capacity that until this day they have shown in general. Us, the players, do not agree that the current managing team of the VFF (FVF) continues operating, since it’s not negotiable the way we have been treated and how the project of going to the World Cup has been handled to this date, we think as a team that this significant dirigencial change is needed so that the work that has been bulding since 8 years ago won’t go to waste. At this point in the southamerican football qualifiers for the World Cup Russia 2018 a change on time is vital. 

We state again that our integrity is not negotionable and that the damage done can only be fixed by renewing the managing staff of the Venezuelan Football Federation. We cannot continue in an environment already damaged by this staff.

We also would like to share that the money received in this cycle and the one that’s in debt to us will be going to a foundation the players here mentioned altogether are creating, with the purpose of helping our youth and to develop sport schools in our country.

-Tomás Rincón (c), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Salomón Rondón, Roberto Rosales, César González, Luís Manuel Seijas, Franklin Lucena, Grendy Perozo, Josef Martinez, Alexander González, Nicolas Fedor, Gabriel Cíchero, Ronald Vargas, Alejandro Guerra and Christian Santos.”

Venezuela NT’s Captain, Tomás Rincón, sent an open letter through Twitter to all the fans and media about the team’s current hardship:

For Venezuela Here in this situation of delicate matter that our national team is going through, the easiest thing would be to point fingers at the guilty ones, but no, this is a much more comlex topic, the search must be focused on proposing solutions and not on losing with more problems. Each one of us has to assume their respective blames, it’s not just one’s or the others’, as the team sport that we play, we’re all responsible. We must make an internal reflexion, as people and as sportsmen. 

The principal goal as of today is to get back the hope of an entire country and the spirit of a team that always leaned on that mysticism to compete in the highest levels. We accept the crisis and we face it, because those who overcome crisis, overcome themselves. 

TOMÁS RINCÓN Venezuela National Football Male Team’s Captain

Squad against Ecuador:

Starting: Alain Baroja, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Jose M. Velazquez, Gabriel Cichero, Tomas Rincon (C), Romulo Otero, Franklin Lucena, Roberto Rosales, Jefren Suarez, Christian Santos, Salomon Rondon.  

Bench: Jose Contreras, Wilker Angel, Ronald Vargas, Juan Falcon, Cesar Gonzalez, Carlos Cermeño, John Murillo, Josef Martinez, Rafael Acosta, Alexander Gonzalez, Francisco Carabali, Mario Rondon. 

I'm not sad, I'm worried

DT Noel Sanvicente

12.11.15 - Bolívia beat Venezuela 4-2 and guarantee their first win on the WC 2018 CONMEBOL’s Qualifiers at Hernando Siles Stadium, La Paz, Bolívia.

Venezuela NT call-ups for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Bolivia (away) and Ecuador (home): GOALKEEPERS: Alain Baroja (AEK FC – Grecia), José David Contreras (Deportivo Táchira – Venezuela) y Wuilker Faríñez (Caracas FC – Venezuela). DEFENSE: Francisco Carabalí (Mineros de Guayana – Venezuela), Jhon Chancellor (Mineros de Guayana – Venezuela), Jefre Vargas (Caracas FC – Venezuela), Wilker Ángel (Deportivo Táchira – Venezuela), Carlos Cermeño (Deportivo Táchira – Venezuela), José Manuel Velásquez (FC Arouca – Portugal), Roberto Rosales (Málaga FC – España), Fernando Amorebieta (Middlesbrough – Inglaterra), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo (FC Nantes – Francia), Gabriel Cichero (FC Sion – Suiza) y Alexander González (Young Boys – Suiza). MID-FIELD: Jacobo Kouffati (AC Dvo. Lara), Rafael Acosta (Mineros de Guayana – Venezuela), Ronald Vargas (AEK FC – Grecia), César González (Deportivo Táchira – Venezuela), Jhon Murillo (CD Tondela – Portugal), Arquímedes Figuera (Dvo. La Guaira – Venezuela), Tomás Rincón (Genoa CFC – Italia), Rómulo Otero (CD Huachipato – Chile), Juan Pablo Añor (Málaga FC – España), Franklin Lucena (Once Caldas – Colombia), Luis Manuel Seijas (Independiente Santa Fe – Colombia). FORWARD: Richard Blanco (Mineros de Guayana – Venezuela), Jeffren Suárez (KAS Eupen – Bélgica), Juan Falcón (FC Metz – Francia), Christian Santos (NEC Nijmegen – Holanda), Mario Rondón (Shijiazhuang – China), Josef Martínez (Torino – FC), José Salomón Rondón (West Brohmwich Albion – Inglaterra) y Manuel Arteaga (Zulia FC – Venezuela).

Squad against Brazil: Baroja; Rosales, Vizcarrondo, Amorebieta, Cichero; Rincón, Seijas, R. Vargas, Santos, Guerra; Salomón

Brazil right is not at the level we know them to be. We still got a chance

Christian Santos

Venezuela 0 - Paraguay 1 

Venezuela NT “La Vinotinto” in training sessions for the qualifiers of the World Cup Russia 2018.

Venezuela NT “La Vinotinto” in training sessions for the qualifiers of the World Cup Russia 2018.

Venezuela NT wins first match of Group C of Copa America Chile 2015 tournament against Colombia NT at Rancagua’s “El Teniente” Stadium on June 14th of 2015.

La Vinotinto ya se entrena en Mendoza Argentina

Christian Santos (N.E.C Nijmegen)