I know there's still 2 days left of the tournament, but I wanted to share this. http://www.conmebol.com/articulos_ver.jsp?id=61064&slangab=S Joseph Blatter en conferencia de prensa "Venezuela ha hecho una Copa excepcional" 13 / 07 / 2007 El Presidente de la FIFA, Joseph Blatter, congratuló hoy a Venezuela y al fútbol de ese país "por la excepcional Copa América que ha organizado". La ponderación la hizo en una conferencia de prensa que brindó este viernes por la tarde en el Hotel Del Lago, de Maracaibo. El máximo dirigente del fútbol mundial llegó a esa ciudad para presenciar el epílogo de la 42da. Copa América, como lo ha hecho en las últimas ediciones. Argentina y Brasil dirimirán el título de campeón de Venezuela 2007 desde las 17 de este domingo en el estadio José "Pachencho" Romero. El Sr. Blatter, quien fue condecorado con el Gran Collar Ciudad de Maracaibo por el alcalde local, Dr. Gian Carlo Di Martino, estuvo acompañado por los dirigentes de la CONMEBOL Dr. Nicolás Leoz, y señores Julio Grondona, Eugenio Figueredo, Eduardo Deluca y Rafael Esquivel. "Venezuela puede organizar un Mundial Juvenil" "En todo el mundo se ha visto por televisión y se ha escuchado de parte de la prensa la calidad extraordinaria de este certamen. Aquí se dieron las tres partes fundamentales para lograr un gran torneo: la infraestructura, con unos estadios maravillosos; la buena preparación de los equipos y la hospitalidad de la gente, el calor popular. Nunca la repercusión internacional de la Copa fue tan fuerte", señaló. También se mostró complacido "por el fútbol fenomenal que se ha dado". Preguntado si Venezuela estaba ahora en condiciones de organizar una Copa Mundial, el dirigente suizo respondió: "Por el momento no hablemos de una Copa del Mundo, pero un Sub-20 o un Sub-17 con 24 equipos puede ser un buen primer paso. Esto sería ya para el 2011, pues para el 2009, el Sub-20 ha sido adjudicado a Egipto y el Sub-17 a Nigeria".
Para Nicolás Leoz esta Copa América es la mejor de la historia http://www.rpp.com.pe/portada/deportes/85408_1.php El presidente de la Confederación Suramericana de Fútbol (Conmebol) aseguró que la Copa América Venezuela 2007 es "la mejor de la historia". "Los estadios aquí construidos nos hacen acordar a los del Mundial de Alemania 2006. Sabemos del esfuerzo que han hecho", señaló Nicolás Leoz. El titular de la Conmebol hizo un reconocimiento del trabajo elaborado por las autoridades estatales y municipales de Venezuela “Es un torneo que se vive felizmente, con estadios llenos y una euforia que sinceramente no esperábamos", sostuvo Leoz.
No, it has not been a success if you measure it in real terms and not in the term$$$ of the football burocrats. I don't blame them, as I understand they have to keep selling their products. Otherwise, they will be out of a job as they are normally so inept and corrupt that even McDonalds will think twice before allowing them to get the job of cleaning toilets. Also, I understand next time Mr. Blatter & Mr. Leoz want to get reelected they count with the vote of the Venezuelan FA, therefore those are not impartial views but interested ones. But let's have a proper look: 1.- Infrastructure (3/10): The stadiums were good designs but unfortunately none of them were finished on time, and only God knows if they are ever going to be finished. Some of them were built in places where there is no football tradition or base whatsoever, thus, a waste of resources. Regarding roads, transport network and hotels nothing was done. Copa America was a good opportunity to work on the touristic legacy for Venezuela. 2.- Coverage/Public awarness (3/10): The international TV distribution has indeed been the best ever for Copa America. Unfortunately, the mess with the ticket distribution has left a very negative mark over the whole tournament. A pity, because with a decent ticketing system they could have scored in this category at least a 7 or 8. 3.- Sporting Level (5/10): It was OK, although some teams did not bring their main players and the average of goals per game is way too high, which is in most cases because of lack of preparation/rival scouting and lack of concentration. The host nation, which is the one who normally benefits from the organization of these kind of events, did reasonable well. If they could have got a round further that would have been a very big impulse for football in Venezuela. But, I guess, they did as well as they could. In general a poor note (3,5 app.). If they finish the stadiums properly they could get to 5, which at least would be acceptable. But my general opinion is that (as in many of these events, regardless of the sport discipline) only a dozen of people (and their pockets) benefit from these event, and the legacy for the host nation is almost non existant. We will see how Venezuela does in the next WC qualifying campaign. If they improve their level and do well, it was worth to organize the Copa America for them. If not, it made no sense. But, the reappointing of the current trainer has not been a step in the right direction, I think.
Pferd always makes me laugh with his "unbiased" opinions Who gives a damn if the stadiums are not 100% finished? Barquisimeto was missing at least 50% of the roof, the outside looked like s..t and still I read many articles about journalists saying that they felt like if they were in Germany once they were inside the stadium. The outside of the stadium or the roof is not as important as you think
That's a good point, even though there were a lot of problems with the company that was selling the tickets, most of the stadiums were almost completely full
That depends on your frame of reference..... The people who have crap standards think this is acceptable. The people who like to do things properly think is unnaceptable. I imagine that is the difference between the 1st world and the underdeveloped countries, isn't?
What do you consider a "real" futbol fan? Venezuela is a predominatly baseball nation. The announcers kept dissing the crowd at the opener against Bolivia. While maybe not as cultured as other countries in terms of support, the venezuealans turned out in numbers to back their team. I thought they did a helluva job hosting and supporting. They should feel proud of their efforts.
A real fan is somebody who wishes to go to a game because they like Football. Basically, the opposite of a person (without any idea of football at all) who is being forced to go to a game in a red shirt, ie public employees who had tickets in order to make sure there was no major anti-Chavez demonstrations in the stadiums. The trainer of Venezuela himself criticize the public after the game vs. Bolivia, saying that he hoped the "real" fans will comeback for the second game. Juan Arango, main player of the Venezuelan squad, complained before the start of the tournament as the tickets were not reaching the "real" fans. Hope this clarify the point.
It sucks that the final is in Maracaibo, the one city that had the worst weather. Whose bright idea was that? Hopefully it won't detract from what should be a great match. Overall it was a pretty good tournament.
jajajaja, so you count attendance of "real fans" and "fake fans"??? How many "real" fans went to Korea/Japan 2002 because I went to the game Paraguay/Slovenia and there were at least 5000 Paraguayan fans that looked asian.
TROLL!!! FYI, that's called "Inauguration Ceremony" and a big percentage of the people in the stadium are there as part of the ceremony
I cannot believe you just accused the head of FIFA and Conmebol as being biased, really do you honestly not realise that maybe, maybe your anti-chavez hatred is clouding YOUR judgment? Nah... pulling the petrodollar card is so much easier on the dissonance of the thought. The ticket situation sucked balls, the rest was bliss.
Lot of goals (a lot of GOOD goals really), great&pretty stadiums, a lot of people in the stadiums, nice women.... so I think it was one of the best Copa América that I've seen
Sorry, I am a bit confused. Where do I mention Chavez or anything related to politics on this review?
amigos que fueron a venezuela a ver los partidos de mexico me dijeron que esos estadios que tienen son un lujo inecesario, que pasaron por hospitales y calles y la verdad lamentable y que les dio lastima lo unico que estan haciendo es mostrar una alegria o armonia de pais que no existe y eso es lamentable.
Ya vas a salir a meter la politica en esto? porque no respondes lo que te pregunte? No se puede decir lo mismo de Mexico con esos estadios gigantescos y la gente pasando hambre afuera?
Although you will not believe it, I have to be on the side of Danilo this time. I can not see much difference between Venezuela and Mexico. And if you go to any private clinic in Venezuela (at least CCS) the standard there is pretty high. Another thing is whether the people can afford it or not. But I believe the same situation happens in Mexico.
I agree with that, I thought Colombia was one of the favorites since they were pretty much playing at home (similar to Mexico playing in the US)
si hay mucho resago social pero en mexico hay estabilidad politica y economica hay hospitales de calidad mundial, (privados) hay negocios, hay libertad economica, hay entrada y salida libre de empresas, no por nada hemos organizado 2 mundiales, que han sido los mejores de la historia por cierto.