Venezuela at 2024 Copa America: The greatest achievement target for the Wine Red is a Quarter-Final Exit

Venezuela has been among the most surprising teams in this year's Group B 2024 Copa America selection, with the United States hosting the 48th edition of the Copa América. The team is led by the defensive play pattern coach, Fernando Batista. They have been grouped with Ecuador, Mexico, and Jamaica. Let's see how far the Wine Reds can go in this tournament.

Venezuela's major competition showed its recent worth at the World Cup, qualifying only to lose to Colombia, which has been on a serious winning streak since then. The match against Ecuador was an equal share of the spoils, ending in a goalless draw. A performance they replicated against Brazil, which ended in a draw as well. The eye-catching performance was against Chile, where Yeferson Soteldo, Salomon Rondon, and Darwin Machis found the net.  

They don't have a great history in Copa America; they only made it once to the semi-finals back in 2011. Coach Fernando will be looking to turn his side around with strong defensive tactics but will also need to deal with the lack of goals they are being faced with.

This year, Copa America has Venezuela in the group of death, as they will be facing Mexico, Ecuador, and Jamaica. They will begin their journey against Ecuador on June 22 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, which will have the capacity to host 68,500 fans worldwide. Both sides have always had it tough, but Venezuela hasn't gotten any wins from their meeting, with their best performance being a draw. Next will be the Mexico game scheduled for the 27th and against Jamaica on July 1. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, will serve as the host with its 70,000 capacity for the Mexico game, and Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, with a capacity of 20,700, will be used for the Jamaica game. The previous meetings against Mexico have not been in Venezuela`s favor, but against Jamaica, both sides have shared the spoils with three wins each from their recent meeting.

Goalkeepers: Joel David Graterol (America De Cali), Jose Contreras (Aguilas Doradas), Rafael Romo (Universidad Catolica)

Defenders: Yordan Osorio (Parma), Nahuel Ferraresi (Sao Paulo), Christian Makoun (Anorthosis), Jhon Chancellor (Metropolitanos Fc), Wilker Angel (Cricuma), Miguel Navarro (Talleres Cordoba), Jon Aramburu (Real Sociedad), Alexander Gonzalez (Emelec)

Midfielders: Jose Martinez (Philadelphia Union), Thomas Rincon (Santos), Yangel Herrera (Girona), Cristian Casseres (Toulouse), Daniel Pereira (Austin FC), Telasco Segovia (Casa Pia AC), Kervin Andrade (Fortaleza)

Forwards: Yeferson Soteldo (Gremio), Darwin Machis (Cadiz CF), Matias Lacava (Vizela), Jefferson Savarino (Botafogo), Eduard Bello (Mazatlan FC), Jhonder Cadiz (Famalicao), Salomon Rondon (Pachuca), Eric Ramirez (Dynamo kyiv)

Venezuela will depend on Salomon Rondon to achieve its goals. He has been responsible for a large chunk of their goals and was impressive in the 1-1 draw against Brazil and the revenge 3-0 win against Chile. Another player will be Yangel Herrera, who has excelled in both the club and the country, especially when injury-free. Yeferson Soteldo has also been electrifying in their qualifying campaign.

This is the most open group in terms of who might advance, given the little issues of scoring goals surrounding each of the other contenders. Venezuela's great play during the World Cup qualifying games surprised the world. This is attributed to their outside shot play and their tough defensive structure. Their last five previous matches have not seen any wins, with only two goals scored. Taking another deeper look, Venezuela only lost those matches to their own goal and missed their penalty. All they need to do is use their strength, which is their defensive ability, which has made them a hard nut to crack even against top teams like Brazil and Chile. So the best bet for them at this group stage is to get the second play and draw Ecuador, as they believe in Coach Fernando Batista, who has been the reason for this rise.