The Brazilian Pre-Olympic Team faces Venezuela this Thursday (8), at the Brígido Iriarte Stadium, in Caracas, in search of victory to keep the chance of qualifying for the Paris Olympics alive. The game starts at 8 pm (Brasília time).
Before, at 5 pm, in the same location, Paraguay and Argentina open the second round of the final quadrangular of the competition.
After their debut in the decisive phase in which they were beaten 1-0 by Paraguay, the Brazilian team can scramble the Pre-Olympic table if they win the three points. To seal its place at the Paris Games, the team depends only on itself. If they defeat Venezuela and pass Argentina on Sunday (11), they will guarantee their presence in the Olympics.
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The atmosphere in the group became much lighter this Wednesday. Members of the technical committee participated in a rachão with the players at the Olympic Stadium in Caracas, with a great response from the athletes. Before that, they carried out tactical training, in which coach Ramon Menezes adjusted the team’s positioning in attack and defense.
For the coach, the Seleção has everything it takes to leave the field with a victory and recover from the setback of the previous game. He foresees difficulties due to the opponent having a well-armed team with skilled players. Furthermore, Venezuela has the support of its fans, who are expected to fill Brígido Iriarte.
“We have to take all our joy and confidence onto the field. We hope to have a great game. Everyone here knows the responsibility of wearing the Brazilian team’s shirt”, said Ramon Menezes, who wants the team to have as much possession of the ball as possible, in order to control the actions of the match.
The forecast in Caracas for game time is rain, a situation opposite to what the team has experienced so far in Venezuela, in five matches, in which they played under high temperatures on a pitch (at Brígido Iriarte) that needed to be irrigated minutes before kickoff.
