Valparaiso (Chile), June 18 (IANS) Coach Noel Sanvicente has told his Venezuela side not to expect Peru to show them them as much respect as they showed Brazil when the two teams meet in the Copa America here.
Ricardo Gareca’s men went down 1-2 to the five-time World Cup winners in their Group C opener on Sunday, but the Venezuela coach has warned that Peru will be much more confident in playing their own game when they come up against his outfit in their second fixture of the competition on Thursday.
“Peru need to win to get back into the Copa and we must win to take the pressure off when we face Brazil in our final match,” Sanvicente told a pre-match press conference.
“They are not going to respect us as much as they did Dunga’s team, and they can play well as they have very experienced players. Except Argentina and Brazil, who have many individual stars, every team can beat everyone else in South America.”
Venezuela recorded a shock 1-0 win over Colombia in their first Group C match, but Sanvicente believes there is more to come from his squad.
“I hope the team keeps getting better, keeps driving on together and doing great things because that way we will perform even better.”
Captain Tomas Rincon added that Peru’s midfield will need to be combatted if Venezuela are to get a result at the Estadio Elias Figueroa.
“Peru have some very interesting players in the middle,” he told reporters.
“Against Colombia we played a great game, but the Peruvians are very quick and dynamic so we must be vigilant.”