09 Jun 2009
By Carlos Mauricio Ramirez, Caracas FC Press

Both sides could feel satisfied following twin friendlies at the weekend involving Caracas FC and the Venezuela national team with the latter about to face Uruguay on June 10 in World Cup qualifying for South Africa 2010 and the 10-times Venezuelan league champions preparing for their Copa Santander Libertadores quarterfinal second leg tie in Brazil against Gremio on June 17.

The first friendly saw the teams cancel each other out 0-0 with the second encounter a 2-0 victory for Caracas FC thanks to goals from Dario Figueroa and Rodrigo Prieto.

In the first match, manager Noel Sanvicente opted for the following line-up: David Gonzalez, Nolberto Riascos, Jaime Bustamante, Deivis Barone, Edder Perez, Bremer Pinango, Edgar Jimenez, Dario Figueroa, Alejandro Guerra, Rodrigo Prieto and Zamir Valoyes.

The Venezuela national squad favoured names such as Nicolas Feder, Juan Arango, Cesar Gonzalez, Alejandro Moreno, Tomas Rincon and included Caracas FC players Renny Vega, Jose Manuel Rey, Gabriel Cichero, Giovanny Romero and Franklin Lucena.

For the second friendly also played in the southern Venezuelan city of Puerto Ordaz the following day on Sunday, June 7, the national side went for a more youthful approach with a view to participating in the upcoming U-20 World Cup in Egypt and to give likely first team choices a rest before the Uruguay clash.

Caracas FC went with the following players for the second friendly: Pedro Caraballo, Marlon Bastardo, Jaime Bustamante, Leo Bautista, Edder Perez, Edgar Jimenez, Gerardo Torres, Dario Figueroa, Cristian Novoa, Rodrigo Prieto and Rolando Suarez.

The Reds will be training hard this week before flying out to Brazil on Saturday, June 13 looking for a Copa Santander Libertadores semi-final berth against Gremio with the score poised at 1-1 from the first leg.