“We’re in the middle of a ‘generational renovation,’” Ruben Villavicencio, executive president of the Venezuelan Premier League, told me as we discussed Venezuela’s Copa América performance. I thought that was a wonderful turn of phrase – the kind that only happens when speaking a language that isn’t your own – and it is such a perfect description of what is happening with the Venezuelan national team. Before, the squad picked itself because the options were so limited; now the decisions Rafael Dudamel, the head coach, has to make are difficult ones because, for the majority of positions, there are at least two strong options. Their time in Brazil perfectly encapsulated this and where they are as a footballing nation.
To understand how the performance was received back home and what is expected next from La Vinotinto, I spoke with several Venezuelan experts and professionals: David McIntosh, veteran centre-back of two Copas and former international teammate of Rafael Dudamel; Verónica Herrera, U17 South American Championship winner in 2013 and 2016; Marie Ferro and Eduardo Pino, TV and radio football journalists for Meridiano TV and Difusión Latina; and Carlos Bustamante, an independent producer and sports journalist based in England.
“The selection caused a lot of controversy,” McIntosh explained, tapping straight into the public discourse that is so symptomatic of national football. “It was controversial because there are, let’s say, millions of Venezuelan managers, each one with their own criteria. I think we performed well, but there was a bitter taste that if we had been more ambitious it could have been better.”
It’s a sentiment echoed unequivocally among the jury I had assembled for La Vinotinto to stand before. The consensus was that Argentina were there for the taking. “Over-respected.” “A missed opportunity.” “Shown excessive respect.” Ferro believes the ‘more creative’ Jefferson Savarino could have made the difference, and Herrera and Bustamante were left pondering what could have been had more time been given to Yeferson Soteldo.