We must recognize the commitment and effort that the new national coach of Vinotinto, Fernando Batista, is putting in to re-excite the country with the project of qualifying the absolute team for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.
If the failed process of José Pékerman was characterized by his distance, the darkness and the secrecy of his short working time, Batista has done the opposite and is returning the selection to the people, offering open-door training sessions, exchanging views with the national coaches and explaining their project in detail; actions essential to get the unanimous support that is required as of next September to face the South American qualifier for the World Cup.
Essays with national soccer players
Calling the players who compete in the Futve League to La Vinotinto to carry out a preparation module in Mérida was pure gain, because several of them will also be able to integrate the final list for the first double day of the World Cup, against Colombia in Barranquilla and against Paraguay at the Monumental stadium in Maturín.
The lack of time to rehearse movements, strategies and the whiteboard plays that the coaches have planned is one of the main difficulties that must be overcome in each game of the long World Cup qualifying round. Most of the players who play for teams abroad arrive three or four days before the matches and the coaches have a couple of practices to install their game ideas.
So everything that can be advanced with the players from the patio, who participated in the casting of Mérida, is beneficial for the tactical preparation of the next matches. Batista has to win time over time, and he is doing it with work on the pitch.
Players like the powerful striker for Caracas FC, Saúl Guarirapa, the best striker of his generation; the Táchira midfielder, Yerson Chacón; the pearl of Monagas, the exquisite left-handed David Martínez; and the left back, also from Monagas, Oscar González, are some of the players that the Argentine coach was able to work carefully in the module and could appear in his next call for the friendly matches against Honduras and Guatemala on June 14 and 18; the last rehearsals before facing the steep pre-World Cup path.
Exchanging ideas is key
The permanent exchange of knowledge and information with the coaches of the various clubs in the country is also beneficial. Nobody knows the football and personal reality that the country's players go through better than their own coaches.
The data that the respective technical bodies can provide to the national team on the performance, physical and psychological state of each of the footballers that appear on the Vinotinto long list, will only contribute so that Batista and his assistants have a more clear when it comes to including players from the patio in the final list for the tie.
The call for the double date of friendlies in June will offer a more precise idea of the coach's plans. The mixture of local soccer players with the well-known figures from abroad, with Salomón Rondón and Tomás Rincón at the helm, would have a decisive test against the teams of Honduras and Guatemala. It will be the final evaluation for Batista to finish assembling the Vinotinto puzzle, adjust each piece in its place to fight for the victories that are the only food to convince the country that the World Cup dream has firm foundations in this new process that paints good.
