Venezuela V Australia: Men’s International Football Friendly – Live

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Venezuela XI

La Vinotinto: J Contreras (capt), N Ferraressi, T Quintero, D Pereira, G Mendoza, C Casseres, T Segovia, E Echenique, L Balbo, R Hernandez, J Ramirez.

Australia XI

Socceroos: Patrick Beach (gk), Lewis Miller, Jason Geria, Milos Degenek (capt), Kai Trewin, Craig Goodwin, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Connor Metcalfe, Nestory Irankunda, Mohamed Toure.

Beach, Trewin and Okon-Engstler make their elder debuts. Degenek takes nan captain’s armband. The budding business betwixt Irankunda and Toure is fixed much clip to blossom.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to unrecorded sum of the international shot friends betwixt Venezuela and Australia at Shell Energy Stadium successful Houston.

The Socceroos proceed to ramp up their preparations for nan 2026 World Cup to beryllium held successful nan United States, Canada and Mexico pinch a brace of friendlies against South American opponents. The first is against a rebuilding La Vinotinto earlier facing chap World Cup qualifiers Colombia connected Wednesday (Australia time). The back-to-back matches against guidance from nan aforesaid region is each portion of coach Tony Popovic’s expansive scheme to hole for different strategies and styles that his broadside mightiness look successful nan group shape – aliases beyond – astatine adjacent year’s tournament.

Australia person laid a beardown instauration since Popovic took nan reins and were 1 of nan first sides to book their spot successful nan showpiece event, though their 12-match unbeaten tally was snapped successful nan past world window. A 2-1 conclusion to nan US followed an edgy 1-0 triumph complete Canada arsenic Popovic and nan Socceroos proceed to trial themselves against challenging opponents alternatively than spell each successful connected their hopes to emergence up nan rankings and snatch a spot successful cookware 2 of nan World Cup tie adjacent month.

The Socceroos are classed No 25 successful nan world and wrong scope of 3 teams up of them including South Korea successful 22nd place. Venezuela are classed 50th successful nan world aft a 1-0 nonaccomplishment to Argentina past month.

La Vinotinto vanished eighth successful CONMEBOL qualifying to miss retired connected a World Cup play-off spot erstwhile beaten by Colombia successful nan past group crippled astatine nan aforesaid clip arsenic Bolivia stunned Brazil to leap complete them successful nan standings. Venezuela will person to hold astatine slightest different 4 years to suffice for a first World Cup but are already preparing for nan early pinch a new-look squad filled pinch emerging talent to return connected nan Socceroos.

Kick disconnected successful Houston is 8.30pm section / 1.30pm AEDT. I’ll beryllium backmost soon pinch nan line-ups. But now is nan clip to deed maine up pinch questions, thoughts and predictions – shoot maine an email, aliases find maine connected X @martinpegan and Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social. Let’s get into it!