Y eso quiere decir que en Mexico no hay pobreza? O acaso todos los mexicanos que yo veo en EEUU estan aqui de vacaciones?
Mantengamos la linea de la discusion, por favor: fue o no un exito esta Copa America? Es una pregunta muy simple. Metro
yes it is peru had a great copa america too but this one in venezuela is way better, look at the stadiums, the building is better, everyhting is better, they look like WC stadiums unfprtunately they have chavez , so we´re gonna see that monkey again,right after chayanne sings, CHESU
todo bien por venezuela lastima el incidente de ayer el estadio de carcas - por el gorde ese de alcalde de la capital, bien reportado y filmado en el momento por Globo vision- el tipo es todo un animal de bruto! venezuela se merece un suramericano sub 20 o un WC sub20.....
OK, whatever dude, stick to the subject and once again If you want to talk about politics... open a thread in NSR
Venezuela 2007: Una Copa América que bate todos los récords http://www.afa.org.ar/?m=news&n=4116 Desde periodistas acreditados hasta por venta de entradas. Una organización maravillosa y los estadios más modernos de Sudamérica. Un certamen que quedará en la historia. Al momento de jugarse la segunda semifinal de esta Copa América, ya puede afirmarse sin duda alguna que estamos frente a un torneo exitoso de manera excepcional, que marcará un nuevo rumbo en el desarrollo futuro de la competencia. En febrero último, durante el sorteo de esta 42a. edición, quedó flotando la agradable sensación de que Venezuela había puesto la vara muy alta en materia de excelencia organizativa. La impactante ceremonia tuvo entonces un brillo inusual, nunca visto en las copas anteriores. Al ser presentadas las maquetas de los estadios, igualmente hubo consenso general: eran magníficos, modernos. Venezuela hizo una apuesta doble: necesitaba ampliar y mejorar su estructura deportiva, y al mismo tiempo preparar los escenarios para ser anfitrión por primera vez de la legendaria competencia. Así pasó de no tener casi estadios adecuados a ser el mejor equipado del continente. Asimismo, florecieron varios centros de entrenamiento, indispensables para el trabajo diario de las 12 selecciones. Unos fueron construidos a nuevo, otros remodelados. Luego había que colmar los estadios de pasión. Si alguna duda persistía acerca del crecimiento del balompié en la patria de Bolívar, vayan algunos números que hacen de esta Copa América la edición récord. Las 731.026 plazas disponibles para los 26 partidos fueron agotadas un mes antes de la Copa. Venezuela 2007 establece también una nueva marca en materia de periodismo. El anterior registro de 3.800 acreditados fue ampliamente superado: aquí recibieron credenciales 5.749 hombres de prensa; 2.382 extranjeros (otra plusmarca) y 3.367 nacionales. Esto incluye prensa escrita, radio, televisión y fotógrafos. No se cuentan camarógrafos ni personal técnico. Tampoco dirigentes y auxiliares. Con todos ellos la suma asciende a 13.100. Kareem Schiebeck, directora de acreditaciones de la Copa América, señaló que los países más exóticos con enviados especiales son Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Omán, Somalia, Tailandia, Túnez y Antillas Neerlandesas, entre otros. Estas cifras hablan con elocuencia de la magnitud alcanzada por el torneo, y del interés despertado en todo el mundo (188 países adquirieron finalmente los derechos televisivos). La ceremonia inaugural, a la que asistieron los presidentes de Venezuela y Bolivia, señores Hugo Chávez y Evo Morales, fue el mayor suceso televisivo de la historia de este país con sabor a Caribe, de 28 millones de habitantes. Otro hecho notable es que la Copa está omnipresente en todo Venezuela, en los diarios y revistas, en la radio y la televisión, en la vía pública, en los aeropuertos. Todo está empapelado y emparentado con el torneo. Si bien Venezuela nunca había recibido la Copa América, su primera vez resultará inolvidable por diversos motivos: calidad organizativa, estadios modernísimos, euforia popular y repercusión inédita. Venezuela buscaba en la Copa varios objetivos: la popularización del fútbol, su consolidación futbolística y el crecimiento de su infraestructura deportiva. Ya podemos decir que lo ha logrado largamente. Fuente: Conmebol.com Julio 11 de 2007
Hubo boletos gratis, caos y despelote Gritos y empujones fueron la norma en las afueras (AP) WILMER REINA ESPECIAL/EL UNIVERSAL Maracaibo.- Cerca de 6 mil fanáticos ingresaron al estadio Pachenco Romero, donde se disputó la final de la Copa América, de manera gratuita y sin ningún tipo de control. Decenas de personas resultaron lesionadas, algunas se desmayaron y otras presentaron problemas respiratorios, después de que una avalancha de personas derribó la puerta de acceso de la Brígada de Seguridad Interna del estadio. Efectivos de la Guardia Nacional, Bomberos de Maracaibo, Policía Municipal y miembros del Comité de Trabajo Local avalaron la entrada de estas personas por el pequeño portón, inhabilitado hasta ayer para el paso de fanáticos, lo cual ocasionó caos. Se supo que este grupo de aficionados contó con el apoyo de varios funcionarios del ente municipal y se situó en la tribuna sur del coso marabino. Muchos de los fanáticos que adquirieron por la vía legal, ya fuese de manera electrónica o en los centros de ventas autorizados, observaban sorprendidos lo ocurrido. Muchos protestaron lo ocurrido y se quejaron por la falta de organización y "el descaro de esos funcionarios que sólo permiten el paso y regalan entradas a personas adeptas al Gobierno", dijo una señora que no quiso dar su identidad. Antes de este episodio, un grupo de aproximadamente 500 personas provenientes del Instituto Tecnológico de Maracaibo, nuevamente dirigido por representantes de la Alcaldía marabina, también ingresó de manera gratuita y sin boletos a las graderías del complejo deportivo. Ningún representante del Comité de Trabajo Local o de los cuerpos de seguridad quiso dar declaraciones sobre estos acontecimientos. Hubo, por el contrario, amenazas para representantes de medios de comunicación social, quienes buscaron declaraciones oficiales. La respuesta fue: "o dejas de molestar o te sacamos inmediatamente del estadio". Esa fue parte de la antesala del partido final. http://www.eluniversal.com/2007/07/16/ca07_art_hubo-boletos-gratis,_363410.shtml
holy ********, you also post in this board. Are you paid by Chavez to post in all ********ing forums in his favor???? the tournament sucked. Period. Disastrous organization and it was entirely used as communista propaganda to make the masses happy. After all, they need something to watch in TV after Castro closed RCTV. there are only government propaganda channels in Venezuela nowadays.
You are sure one of the biggest cry-babies in this fu cking place, son. I am sure happy as fu ck the Copa his over, that way I don't have to read about your bitching in every thread you happen to post in.
Why don't you tell what the ..... "Chavez being authoritarian", economic freedom, number of public hospitals, poverty level, Castro or RCTV have to do with the Copa America tournament or soccer??? If you don't have a good answer then s... the .... up
Copa runs over with inspiration http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/football.cfm?id=1102982007 ANDREW DOWNIE IN MARACAIBO THREE weeks, 24 games, 79 goals, $1bn and a Copa America that got its mojo back. It has been an enthralling summer for the world's oldest international football tournament. Today in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina will line up for the final, looking to provide a fitting denouement to what has been one of the most exciting and open football events in recent history. These are the most exotic teams in the world and they will face off on a hot and steamy night in front of 42,000 fans, who will provide the spectacle present at every game since the start on June 26 - with beating drums, ticker-tape, Mexican waves, fireworks, and political tensions crackling for good measure. Most of all, surely there will be goals. For this Copa America has put recent World Cups in the shade. The ball has entered the net 79 times in the 24 ties so far, at an average of 3.29 per game. The last time the World Cup saw that many was in Sweden in 1958. Indeed, in every aspect the hosts proved worthy participants in a competition presented to them because they were the only one among 10 South American nations not to have staged the extravaganza. Many observers doubted whether the tournament could work in a country where baseball is the national passion, and where political tensions have split the populace between those for and against revolutionary socialist President Hugo Chavez. The tourism infrastructure for such a major influx of visitors was clearly lacking, and the government were accused of withholding as many as two-thirds of the tickets to give to their supporters. Nevertheless, anti-Chavez chants were heard in many of the grounds. Moreover, though they reportedly spent more than $1bn to prepare for the tournament and to build or renovate nine stadiums, some venues were unfinished. In Barquisimeto, for instance, two corner sections and various parts of the roof were missing. Amazingly, it all went off well in spite of the glitches and new life was breathed into a competition that had lost the respect of participants. Unlike recent years, when the big nations arrived with weakened or under-21 squads - in 2001 Argentina did not even bother to take part - most of the teams were at full strength this time. Even more importantly, Conmebol seem finally to have decided on a defined spot for the tournament: every four years, and in the year after the World Cup. Holding it at that time means that it will be the only major international competition of the summer, and it will allow managers to try out players and formations before the World Cup qualifiers begin the following September. Good news all round, and the icing on the cake would be a classic final, which is a genuine possibility. Almost everything else about this Copa America has proved memorable.
After spending 8 days in Venezuela for Copa, here’s a bit of my perspective/experience. It’s a bit fragmented but I wrote it as I remembered some of the experiences. The trip was well worth it. After all, the games were full of goals, triumph and disappointment….typical Copa drama. Visiting another land you’ve never been to before can truly be inspiring. That being said, even before I got off the plane, I had several Venezuelan natives telling me to be overly cautious, especially while in Caracas. I’ve traveled plenty, so it wasn’t something I hadn’t heard before. But it would be a repeated theme during the whole trip. And it was well warranted advice as the lack of security is at a crucial point in Venezuela. My first night was in Macuto, a once thriving coastal resort north of the airport that was destroyed in a 1999 natural flood disaster. The area was never really fixed after the disaster. There was nothing to do in the area except just relax and enjoy the beautiful rising sun Pferd painted a serious social outcry of sorts which not only exists but was clearly evident when people spoke about their country. I’m afraid he wasn’t so far off. While Danilo-11 wrote of the heart of his people, Pferd spoke of the stark reality of Venezuela. No surprise in a place where $1 = 2,100 Bolivares or where you’re expected to sell your dollars in the “not-so-black market” where $1 = $3,000-4,000 Bolivares. It’s an illegal trade but one that is embedded in the culture. From every taxi guy, to the hotel staff, to the local business man, would offer you the higher trade, whether it’s warranted or not. I expected to get plenty of anti-American sentiment but instead most folks were very discreet about saying anything. After a bit more ‘poking and prodding’ I would finally get to the reality of the political situation. Folks aren’t willing to speak their mind freely here, as they really don’t know if you have or don’t have a political agenda which may get them in some real trouble. Most people I spoke with from taxi drivers to lawyers, from students to stay at home wives, are concerned that the country is in a serious troubled state of affairs. The US has simply become the easy scapegoat to block the real internal issues of the country. The middle class as they see it, has been pushed out and the sweeping reforms of socialism have made their once open society, one of much fear, insecurity and distrust. That’s why this Copa is so scrutinized internally. According to people there, everything that has been tagged for the ‘good of all’ has really had some sort of foul purpose at the end. Oil producing Maracaibo is the perfect example. Venezuela’s second largest city was dirty, unsafe and lacking of any cultural or social resources out of the 4 cities I visited. Folks here were very frustrated with their local governor who had been hand-picked by Chavez and is living a life of pure luxury. The heat and humidity in this part of the land resembles none other. Throw in air conditioning at unbelievable levels and soon you realized why this city is called “the city of the cold”. The crowds in all the stadiums were very well behaved and not serving liquor was a great idea. We were able to scalp tickets to every match (saw 7 matches total) so I was happy not to give Delujo promotions not 1 cent of my money. Many locals didn’t fare as well as they were left without tix after having pre-paid. There was some lack of security in the outside perimeters in all the stadiums I went to, more evident in Maracaibo. Ironically, the police were some of the biggest culprits reselling tickets at a higher price. The fans in San Cristobal were easily the best. The atmosphere was unbelievable. Just as it was hearing the fans chant “Libertad, Libertad (Freedom/Freedom)” or “ Se va a caaaeeer, se va a caaeer, este gobierno va caaeer”. It was electrifying and a bit humbling. I’d never seen or heard anything like it. Then via the PA speakers, applause would be played at high volume to mute out those chants. Or at times they would just send fireworks. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it and felt the energy pro + con. I will say the stadiums looked great. The stadium in San Cristobal has no match. At night it looked spectacular. The party poured into the streets! Great environment. The Barquisimeto stadium was far from finished. There were only 2 entrances for 40,000+ people. The bathrooms weren’t all finished so the line was at least :30 hour long. Concession stands were the same. Their was no exit plan/strategy after the match so every person had to walk 2-3 miles before getting some type of transport back into the city limits. Although the roads are well put together much of the other infrastructure was lacking. Taxis are used much more then mass transit. Unfortunately many of these taxis were using cars well passed their expiration date. I recall one of our taxi drivers, using all his strength, cocked the steering wheel to the left the entire time in order to keep the car going straight. Kind of funny at first but at times down right dangerous. Good hotels in San Cristobal, Maracaibo and Barquisimeto were far and few to find. Some of the hotels would have a 4 star name plate next to the hotel name but you would enter the rooms and they were really 2 stars, tops. Their costs however did reflect the 4 star status. Many of the folks were very aware of this problem and faulted poor planning and resources to help support these stadiums. Places like Barinas and Barquisimeto for example will be left with world class football stadiums but with no local professional football team to support the new mega structures. The tourism office in Maracaibo wouldn’t let us enter the building because we had Bermuda shorts. They had us waiting in the main lobby for about an hour claiming someone would come down and help us. We decided to leave and look for a safe place ourselves. Security forces around the cities were next to zero – no police, army or guard to strengthen the area. The bus terminals were beyond crazy … a little security or even a help desk would have made sense. Buses for long trips were leaving at night only, so you would lose and entire day if you wanted to go to try to catch a game in a different city (it happened to us and about 8 other tourists trying to link up from San Cristobal to Maracaibo). Barquisimeto was my favorite city. It was kept us fairly well and clean in comparison to the other cities. There was some night life but limited to 2-3 spots. It’s a suburban feel of a city with a very conservative feel. There were no true tourist spots for people to visit, save 1-2 plazas. Stayed at the best hotel in the area which was ok but didn’t reflect the very high cost. A good idea would be to have taxi meters as you felt ripped-off by many of these hotel sponsored taxis. Security was very high at this specific hotel as it was the same hotel the US team was staying. I met my first true Chavez supporter (other then my bus trip “stop” in the middle of nowhere, where all men were ordered off the bus by the army and treated with ‘so much respect’ – nothing like having to take out everyone’s luggage in 100F heat just to dig thru my bag and finally show my passport). I’ve never heard someone so passionate about a politician before (referring to his unconditional love for Chavez). He started losing some credibility however, when he wouldn’t allow for rebuttal. He just spoke over me and I surely wasn’t about to start any type of argument. When you hear a man say, ‘the day will come when we kill and destroy the rich, kill the Americans’, you sort of know your place. After all, I’m not rich but I was in a ‘rich man’s hotel’ so maybe he was talking about me?! I don’t regret one single moment of my experience in Venezuela. It was a definite ‘working vacation’. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to follow a sport I love and experience it with people from all over the world. I met Mexicans (they travel in huge packs!), Argentinians, Peruvians, British, etc., supporters where had it not been for this Copa, would have never even considered traveling to Venezuela. We all have left much richer people from this experience. Gracias, panas Venezolanos for the invitation!
LFSR 1544, very interesting your post. Great to hear you are back safe and in one piece! Unfortunately, you confirm most of my predictions, which believe it or not, make me a bit sad. Especially, bearing in mind we are speaking about a country which have enough resources to not let these things happen.
Thanks for sharing with us your experience, I'm glad that you enjoyed going to Venezuela and Copa America I wanted to say my opinion about some things that you said, (1) The governor of the state where Maracaibo is located (Zulia State) was not hand picked by Chavez, because he is one of the leaders of the opposition (Manuel Rosales), The Mayor of the city of Maracaibo is "chavista". As far as I know there's no oil in the city of Maracaibo, but there's a lot of oil in Zulia state (jurisdiction of Manuel Rosales) (2) San Cristobal is "the soccer city of Venezuela" and are well known for being the best soccer fans in the country. It's interesting that you heard people sing against Chavez, because all the news agencies said that all the tickets were given to pro-government people (3) Barinas has a team called "ZamoraFC" that earned a spot to play in Copa Sudamericana (similar to Copa Libertadores) that is going to start next month. Barquisimeto already had one of the best soccer stadiums in Venezuela. Stadium Farid Richa with a capacity of 15000 people for 2 teams that played in 2nd division. This year both teams are going to play in 1st division and is very likely that the national team will play in Barquisimeto because of it's geographic location right in the middle of the 3 largest cities (Caracas, Maracaibo & Valencia) and the cities with the best soccer fans (San Cristobal, Merida) (4) Sounds like you only met a couple of Chavez supporters. I've learned that there's extremists everywhere. I've also heard many people from the opposition saying the exact same thing: "All the people from those shanty towns in Caracas should be killed because they are poor and ignorant" Here's the stadium Farid Richa of Barquisimeto
luisR44.....I wanted to thank you for the most interesting piece of read in the last year or so (for me, about the state of the matters in Venezuela) I hope you can give us a recap...game per game, but not just futbol, as to the areas of the game, the make up of the fan base and more one QUESTION, you may hate to answer: HOW do you rate in different tems your copa venezuela vs copa america in Peru? I know you had the outmost pleasure of being in both places welcome back mate.
Here's the teams that play in Barquisimeto and that will play in 1st division this year: http://www.guarosdelara.net/ http://www.unionlarafc.net/ [youtube]POosEX2PR68[/youtube] And here's the team that plays in Barinas, ZamoraFC [youtube]5_hTqkrACd4[/youtube]
Mr. Pferd, I'm sure you are dissapointed that the light has gone out in at least 2 events in the Panamerican games.
Fantastic tournament … the best Copa to date as far as I am concerned … Venezuela and it’s government have done themselves proud … Great games … great stadia … lots of goals … quite a few surprises … they also managed to make the miserable sods that have always been against the tournament, for their own alternative motives, feel even more wretched … Shameful really, they come here to peddle their divisive, insular, political dictums …
Do they pay you to be a rightwing whiny bitch? I am glad that the right is pissed off, it means it was a resounding success.
You're right about Zulia... but Maracaibo is the 'representative' of the state right? 2nd largest city, should be the 'flagship/showpiece' of Venezuela on every level, that's what I meant. 100% Fans... If you notice Venezuela's 1st game vs 2nd mathc (which is the one I went to), much different type of crowd. Next to some matches I've seen live in England, it was the liveliest football crowd, I've ever experienced...wow! Is 1st div in Vzla = top division as in where Caracas FC play or is it 1 div down? If you say you've heard people on the opposition say the same thing, I can't deny that. However, Chavez's strategy is brilliant. BEcause it's much easier to 'brainwash' the poor then it is the middle class and up. And for all the anti Chavez opinion I experienced, none was ever directed toward the people of Vzla but instead referred to Chavez policy.
Metro, good point. I totally forgot one of the highlights. When God was forming the line for "good looking women", he must have started from Z-A. Women in Venezuela are VERY good looking. This is the way I would rate it: Per 'capita' they have the best looking women out of the places I've been. MILFs are as hot as some of the young girls you see here in the states...bottomline is they take care of they're appearence ALL THE TIME! 7+ (out of 10), for 75% of their women(the US I would say would be 35-45%), 8+ for 15%, 8% are 9+ for the remainder... (gotta leave the unlucky 'ducklings' at least something) part of it was there were many Vzl/Col...they make for a good mix ... very little obesity and plastic surgery is a given... 4 top money making positions in Ven would be: 1 ) plastic surgeon 2 ) dentist 3 ) Air condition repairman/salesman (they're obsessed with it) 4) Gov't gig