Search: 'Venezuela'

Quito’s El Nacional pick only native players, a policy that is coming under increasing pressure. Henry Mance reports

As a boy, Juan Carlos Burbano knew never to support foreigners; for a decade as a player, he tried never to pass to them; and now as a coach he is determined to beat them. Such is a life with El Nacional, the Ecuadorian club which only fields locally-born players. “If the national team can do it, why can’t El Nacional?” says Burbano, referring to Ecuador’s unprecedented qualification for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. “We’ve got low self-esteem in Ecuador, and sport has helped it recover”. El Nacional’s “pure creoles” rule was the idea of their founder, an army captain. Forty-five years later the rule remains, as does military control.

Read more…

Dunga played for two of Brazil’s dullest coaches and is now following in their footsteps – but none the less his team conquered the opposition to win another Copa América. Rodrigo Orihuela reports

Were it not for Sebastião Lazaroni, Carlos Alberto Parreira would surely be remembered as Brazil’s most defensive coach ever. Parreira’s 1994 World Cup-winning side were the antithesis of stereotypical Brazilian jogo bonito, but managed to lift a major trophy.

Read more…

Madrid’s fourth team have become Madrid’s third team in recent years – but manager Bernd Schuster could be stepping up even further. At least if he goes, Getafe fans can look back on a first major final. Andy Brassell was there

What makes a cup competition special? The FA Cup was always meant to be far above any of its counterparts around Europe or the world. Of all the changes in the game over the last ten to 15 years, the FA Cup being reduced to virtually a private contest between the top four has shaken the faith more than most.

Read more…

Dear WSC
In Nigel Harris’s excellent Fools Gold (WSC 241), he mentions that South Wales Police officers are approachable and highly regarded. This got me thinking about when Cardiff City were the visitors to Preston a couple of seasons back. As my friends and I were sat drinking in our usual pre-match pub, a jolly officer from the aforementioned constabulary approached us and informed us that they would be letting a group of Cardiff City “fans” into the pub and that we should drink up and leave or they wouldn’t be responsible for the consequences. The SWP officers then proceeded to welcome these fans into the establishment and chuckled along as they went round taunting everyone else in the bar with racist anti-English insults. Though I agree that no set of supporters should ever be banned from seeing their team, Cardiff City’s cause is not helped when the body employed to control their unruly fans’ behaviour is seen very much to encourage what they do. South Wales Police may be “highly regarded”, but not in Preston.
Bobby Dilworth, via email

Read more…

Theirs is still the only South American team never to qualify for a World Cup, but things are looking up for the football fans of Caracas as they emerge from the shadow of baseball. Rodrigo Orihuela explains

Since the iconoclastic Hugo Chávez became Venezuelan president in 1999, the country has become a fixture in the international political and financial press. Chávez’s fiery anti-American discourse, his friendship with Cuba’s ailing Fidel Castro and his recent drive against privately owned business corporations have cemented his place as one of the world’s ­leading maverick heads of state. Until recently, Venezuela made few football headlines. But Chávez is likely to use this year’s Copa América in Venezuela – the first played in the country – as a showcase for his policies, while the national team may give their baseball-mad president genuine cause for celebration.

Read more…