In 1970, Chelsea FC became the first – and to date only – professional English club to play in Venezuela.
They arrived just 4 days after lifting their first FA Cup, a 2-1 win over Leeds United in the replayed final at Old Trafford. Here’s the story.
🧵Thread Begins:
As stated on chelseafc.com, the team were in the Venezuelan capital for a “celebratory post-season tour”, which also included Barbados. The Blues were set to face Vitoria Setubal (🇵🇹) and Santos (🇧🇷) in the Torneo Gran Ciudad de Caracas, hosted at El Olímpico de la UCV.
With the tournament’s first game just 24 days before the start of the World Cup in Mexico, Santos were to play without their main attraction: Pelé.
It was a loss to Chelsea, but Pelé’s Santos had already played in Caracas in ‘59’ & ‘66, and he would return in ‘77 with NY Cosmos.
It’s an all capital affair as Metro host Caracas as both sides look to continue their strong seasons.
Caracas are looking for their second win, led by Akinyoola, while Metro could go third, one point off Táchira and La Guaira, with a win.
4’: GOOOOOOOOL! 🟣
Carlos Sosa opens the scoring with a bombastic long range strike! He outsmarts Baroja and finds the far corner to make it 1-0 to Metro. #FutVe
HT: An early Metro goal is all we get for the first half of today’s match in Caracas. Los rojos have chased an equalizer but it’s Metropolitanos that look the most in control.
Since 2020, the two sides have an even 2-2-2 record against each other. #FutVe
Lara started the month closer to relegation than Libertadores qualification. Two clean sheets and an unbeaten September has changed that entirely. Throughout, Curiel was superb, particularly against Carabobo and Aragua. #futve 2/13
Unbeaten in September (WDWD) with a goal and clean sheet to his name, the right back has been a key figure in the Barinas’ club ultra attacking and vertical football. He impressed strongly against Estudiantes and Zamora. #futve 3/13
It’s a battle for Barinas as Hermanos host Zamora with a 4th place finish and #Sudamericana football on the line.
A win or draw keeps Hermanos in 4th, but Zamora could leap into Hexagonal B contention with a win. #FutVe
7': No early goals as a greatly important match up takes place in Barinas tonight. A result for the home side could prove a huge moment for the newly promoted club. 0-0. #FutVe
15': GOOOOOOOOOOL! ⚽️
Richard Figueroa sneaks around the Hermanos' backline and taps in the opener to give Zamora the lead!
Zamora take 4th place, for now, and Hermanos are left with a lot on the line. 1-0. #FutVe
|Deportivo La Guaira vs. Yaracuyanos|
- Match Thread
It’s top versus bottom in the Grupo Central, the reigning champions against a team who now face relegation if they cannot turn the tide. They’re 4 points adrift with a game in hand. Kick off is in 5. #futve
11': It's is goalless at El Olimpico so far. La Guaira have the Argentine Mario Santilli in goal with recently called up Carlos Olses on the bench. Fellow call ups Adrian Martinez and Francisco La Mantia partner each other at centre back. Yaracuyanos have their work cut out. 0-0.
12': Dany Cure demonstrates the ability that meant La Guaira were keen to bring him back to Venezuela after two and a bit years abroad (🇧🇴🇦🇷🇺🇾). He shuffles in the box to work himself a chance but cant keep his shot down. 0-0. #futve
In 2016 and 2017, Daniuska Rodríguez and then Deyna Castellanos finished 3º in The FIFA Puskas Award. 🏆
But did you know that the Hungarian striker the prize is named after, Ferenc Puskas, played two games in Venezuela in 1957 despite a FIFA ban? 🇻🇪
(Thread ⬇️)
At the time, Puskas was playing for Honved 🇭🇺, a team he had won 5 league titles with, finishing top scorer 4 times. They were considered one of the best clubs in Europe and were touring countries such as England, Spain, and Italy when they received an invitation from Brazil.
It was to be a ten-match, six-week tour of Brazil, worth $10,000 per game, but with the recent defection in Switzerland of the entire Hungary U21 team, the Hungarian FA denied Honved permission to travel to Brazil.