Venezuela Seeks to Win the U-20 Women’s World Cup
Players of the Venezuelan U-20 women’s team. Photo: X/ @SandyaveledoC
August 28, 2024 Hour: 10:32 am
Venezuela will debut against Germany on September 1 at the Techo Metropolitan Stadium in Bogota.
The Italian coach Pamela Conti will lead Venezuela’s second participation in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after an eight-year absence. The Venezuelan team made its tournament debut in 2016 but was defeated in all its matches during the first round.
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Now, the Venezuelan team will be led by forward Mariana Barreto, who was the top scorer in the 2024 South American U-20 Women’s Championship alongside Paraguay’s Fátima Acosta and Colombia’s Gabriela Rodríguez, with all three scoring seven goals each.
The Venezuelan women’s team enters the World Cup with six victories in international friendlies, including a 7-2 thrashing of the Slovak club Slovan Bratislava, with three goals from Francelis Graterol, and one each from Genesis Hernandez, Mariana Barreto, Andrea Cova, and Gabriela Angulo.
Additionally, the Venezuelans won preparatory friendly matches against Morocco, the clubs La Equidad and Universidad Sergio Arboleda, and twice against the Bogotá national team.
In the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia, 24 teams will participate, eight more than in the previous edition of this championship, which has been held every two years since its inception in 2002 when Canada hosted and the United States won.
Spain won its first cup in the last edition of the Women’s World Cup held in Costa Rica. The list of champions is led by the United States (2002, 2008, 2012), Germany (2004, 2010, 2014), North Korea (2006, 2016), and Japan (2018).
The World Cup, which will begin on August 31, consists of six groups, each with four teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to the next round —the Round of 16— along with the four best third-placed teams. The winners of this round will advance to the quarterfinals and so on until the final, which will be played on September 22.
Venezuela has been placed in Group D and will debut against Germany on September 1 at the Techo Metropolitan Stadium in Bogota. They will then face Nigeria and the Republic of Korea.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE