Coach José Pékerman insists his Colombia side will not be underestimating the threat posed by Venezuela in their Group C opener on Sunday.

Los Cafeteros enter this summer’s Copa América as one of the teams fancied to make a bold bid for the trophy following their exploits at last year’s World Cup.

They reached the quarter-finals in Brazil before bowing out to the hosts and are currently on a run of seven straight international victories.

However, Venezuela have proved something of a bogey team for them in recent times with La Vinotinto having won three of the previous five meetings between the two nations – including their last encounter back in 2013 when a Salomón Rondón goal earned them a 1-0 victory in World Cup qualifying.

 

With Venezuela also having reached the semi-finals of the last Copa América, Pékerman is certainly wary of the threat posed by Noel Sanvicente’s side.

“The statistics do not favour us (against Venezuela), but we have always tried face up to this kind of challenge and change things,” the Argentine tactician said at a press conference on Saturday.

“We will treat this game as the first of a big tournament; we know that our rival is very strong and always plays with extra motivation against Colombia.

“We have a lot of respect for this team after what they have demonstrated in the last few years – they were close to qualifying for the World Cup.

“We have to be aware they are a competitive team who have all the requirements to play and win games.”

Pékerman also hinted that there would be few surprises in the team he picks for Sunday’s clash in Rancagua, meaning he could opt to play Jackson Martínez up front alongside Radamel Falcao after the two started in last week’s friendly win over Costa Rica.

“We will confirm the team for tomorrow in our last talk with the players, but there won’t be many changes because this team has a defined spine,” he added.

For their part, Venezuela will be hoping to maintain their encouraging recent record against los Cafeteros.

Sanvicente’s side are also on a decent run of form having won three of their last four outings, albeit against lesser opposition than Colombia in Peru and Honduras (twice).

But their coach will be aware that they have not had a competitive fixture since that win over Peru at the start of April and will be hoping his players are not caught cold on debut in this year’s tournament.

Bron: ca2015.com