Football
ESPN staff 9y

Venezuela shut down Colombia stars, says coach Noel Sanvicente

Noel Sanvicente said his Venezuela side focused on stopping Colombia's best players as he pulled off a shock 1-0 win in their opening match of the Copa America on Sunday.

Venezuela began their Group C campaign in style as Salomon Rondon's 60th-minute goal caused an upset and Sanvicente insists that good planning and preparation were behind the win.

"We knew it was a difficult game, so we had to be ordered," Sanvicente told a news conference. "The keys were giving some information to the players. For instance, [Juan] Cuadrado usually wins when dribbling.

"The same for James Rodriguez, he can't [be allowed to] think calmly, otherwise he can put us in trouble. And then we tried to prevent Falcao to be in contact with the ball. The idea was performing these concepts well."

Sanvicente also claimed that he had to paid attention to Colombian full-backs Pablo Armero and Camilo Zuniga.

"We were aware as well of Armero and Zuniga's external runs," the 50-year-old added. "Therefore we built this defence, trying to be two against one in order to not them let think.

"The team was reinforcing as the game was running. We took our chance.

"As they were the favourite team they put many strikers and we had to battle it with more defence. Thank God everything runs well and we got three very important points."

The Venezuela coach was delighted with the result and paid tribute to the fans, while warning that the hard work was not over yet.

"We wanted to bring a smile to our people in Venezuela," he added. "We wanted to give it back [for] all the support we're receiving.

"It was a difficult game as it was the beginning of the Copa America. Thank God we could offer them a triumph, so they can celebrate. But this is just the very beginning.

"Our aim is still the same -- we want to go through [to the quarterfinals] and we're convinced that with hard work we can do it."

Meanwhile, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman insisted that his side can still bounce back when they take on Brazil in Santiago on Wednesday.

"We will not change our system of play, all rivals are important," he said. "We regret the defeat but congratulate Venezuela for being a great opponent.

"This is a typical opening match in the Copa America, where it always takes a little time to find the rhythm.

"Unfortunately in this game the result has not helped. We could not link the game and complete the passes that we usually do. We had difficulties."

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