Uruguay receives Venezuela, pending the ‘factor’ José Pékerman

Uruguay receives this Tuesday at home the evicted Venezuela with the aim of getting the three points that improve their chances of qualifying for the Qatar-2022 World Cup outside the playoffs.

the celestial, which comes from beating Paraguay 1-0 in Asunción with a goal from gunslinger Luis Suárez, is located in the fifth position in the table behind Peru, which faces a difficult game against Ecuador, third in the standings. Fifth place entitles a playoff against a team from Asia.

The match in theory places Uruguay as the winner: plays in the Centenario de Montevideo, where more than 30,000 tickets, before a Vinotinto that is last in the qualifying round with the Cinderella label on its forehead.

Although in the last 10 games played in qualifying against Uruguay, Venezuela has only lost two, now the new light blue coach Diego Alonso must take into account the José Pékerman factor, who debuted with a 4-1 win against Bolivia in Barinas in the previous match.

“Within the analysis that we can make of Venezuela We have to analyze the coach, which is important because there is only one game with them. Logically we watched José (Pékerman)’s matches with previous teams to try to decipher that analysis”, said Alonso at the press conference prior to the match.

“The concern has nothing to do with the position but for the rival, the characteristics with the new coach and what we saw in that game with tactical and game variations that they have had and with the motivation after a great performance”, he added. “We will meet a different opponent.”

The last time they met in this World Cup cycle was in Caracas, on June 8, with a goalless draw.

We are “training well to try to win again, to seek victory against Venezuela, we know that it is important. We know that the victory against Paraguay if we cannot repeat it on Tuesday will not help us much”, said midfielder Federico Valverde at a press conference.

“We have to take advantage of the fact that we play at home, that we have the support of the people, show all the players that we are prepared for everything, to win, to look for victory, to look for classification”.

Uruguay will not have Matías Vecino, suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, nor with Lucas Torreira and Diego Rossi, by COVID-19.

‘Win and smile’

The victory in Asunción confirmed that the two-time world champion (1930 and 1950) is up and running for maintaining the streak of World Cup appearances that began in South Africa-2010 when, guided by the Maestro Óscar Tabárez, reached fourth place.

Tabárez was dismissed in November past after a string of poor results that put the classification in check.

Venezuela, for its part, is going through a stage of evaluation and adjustment with the arrival of Pékerman, which has its sights set on the 2026 World Cup, which will be organized by the United States with Canada and Mexico.

The win against Bolivia injected spirit into this team that recovered the Cinderella epithet that it cost them so much to get rid of. Venezuela is the only South American team that has never qualified for a World Cup.

That game not only marked Pékerman’s debut, but also the return of the top scorer from Vinotinto, Salomón Rondón, who closed last Friday with a hat trick, supported by Yeferson Soteldo, Darwin Machís and Rómulo Otero.

The Uruguayan defender José María Giménez highlighted the danger of the Vinotino attacker: “in the area you always have to be with him because he is their reference striker, he is their scorer and he is the greatest of them, We know the importance of marking it, how dangerous it is inside the area and we have to limit it”.

the brazilian Bruno Arleu will be the match referee, which starts at 8:00 p.m. local time, 6:00 p.m. in Ecuador. (D)

Possible lineups:

Uruguay:

Serge Rochet; Ronald Araújo, Diego Godín, José Giménez, Mathías Olivera; Facundo Pellistri, Mauro Arambarri (Giorgian De Arrascaeta), Rodrigo Bentancur, Federico Valverde; Darwin Nunez, Luis Suarez. DT: Diego Alonso.

Venezuela:

Wuilker Farinez; Ronald Hernández, Nahuel Ferraresi, John Chancellor, Oscar González; Yéferson Soteldo, Tomás Rincón, José Andrés Martínez, Darwin Machís, Rómulo Otero; Jose Solomon Rondon. DT: Jose Pekerman.