With goals from Soteldo and Salomón Rondón, Venezuela crushes Chile 3-0 and dreams of playing in the 2026 World Cup

After the historic draw against Brazil in it Pantanal Sandthe selected one Venezuela received Chili with the mission of adding a new joy to maintain the hopes of participating for the first time in its history in a world Cup. The enthusiasm of Vinotinto to get the tickets for the contest that they will organize together United States, Mexico and Canada They took advantage of the good start of the Qualifiers. However, at the beginning of the fourth date La Roja presented him with an unexpected battle.

In the Monumental Stadium of Maturín, the group of Eduardo Berizzo He did the merits to open the scoring from the first moves. A combination between Gary Medel and Alexis Sanchez that Ben Brereton failed to capitalize was the first threat to the goal defended by Rafael Romo. And an offensive projection of Philip Loyola which culminated with a shot on the crossbar confirmed the superiority of the team led by Toto.

However, those of Fernando Batista They didn't take long to respond. A precise center of Alexander Gonzalez towards the head of Salomon Rondon seemed to be the formula to break the last Andean line, but a notable reaction from Brayan Cortes the scream of the forward was choked River Plate. A giant cover, so that his maneuver would go directly to the covers of the sports newspapers. Furthermore, a premature injury of Diego Valdes forced Berizzo to make an unexpected variation with the entry of Darío Osorio.

The air route was another resource for Venezuela to reach the network. In a corner that Yeferson Soteldo He served quickly to surprise the rival defense, Yangel Herrera won by the far post and supplied Wilker Angel, who confirmed that the axiom that states that “two headers in the area end in a goal” is not always true. And to top it all off, a lack of attention Victor Mendez In a start from the bottom he gave himself the chance Herrera to cut and run towards the other's goal, but despite having passing options towards his forwards, the midfielder tried with a cross shot from the edge of the large area, which went wide. At the close of the initial stage, the Red wine He had also shown his claws.

Therefore, before the break Jose Martinez took advantage of the gross mistake of Paulo Diaz and was associated with the figure of Saintswho on the right side appealed to his speed and celebrated the 1 to 0 with a low cross shot. In the war of Argentine strategists, the Ball Cambric knew how to read the pretentious idea of Berizzoby demanding constant clean exits from his defenders from the back.

In the complement the panorama was complicated for Chilidue to an unnecessary reaction of Marcelino Nunez. The steering wheel that had entered instead of Charles Aranguiz committed an infraction to Cristian Casseres and the Brazilian Flavio Rodrigues de Souza decided to sanction the infraction and caution the midfielder. The Chilean's unexpected protest caused the referee's second yellow card and The Red was outnumbered.

Therefore, when Soteldo took him for a walk Gary Medel in a perfect counterattack, Venezuela extended the difference with a definition on the edge of the six-yard box. All the action improvised by the star of Saintsallowed the scorer of the River Plate seal the 2 to 0 so that the dream of participating in the world for the first time in its history it remained in force.

Formations

Referee: Flavio De Souza (Brazil).

VAR: Rafael Traci (Brazil).

Stadium: Monumental of Maturín (Venezuela).

TV: TyC Sports.

Positions