Two Legendary Players To Perform In Rare Instance
Same Article In Spanish – Leyendas De Perú y Venezuela Van Frente A Frente
The match between the National Soccer Teams of Venezuela and Peru, to be held on March 31 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has several outstanding features. Among the most memorable for the home crowd will be a meeting on the pitch of Juan Arango and Carlos Pizarro, the two active legends of Venezuelan and Peruvian soccer, respectively.
The match scheduled for 8:00 pm on Tuesday March 31, will mark the debut of Argentinian coach Ricardo Gareca leading a national team, in this case, the Peruvian side. Meanwhile, it also marks the first time that Noel Sanvicente has all the foreign players available to him in his short career as coach of the Vinotinto.
For both teams, the match will also be the preamble to the official meeting to be held on June 14, 2015, when they face each other within the framework of the Copa America Chile 2014, at Estadio El Teniente, in Rancagua.
But for the match to be played in Florida, the two international figures are the ones which give a special touch to the game.
It is a fact that both players are in the final leg of their careers. Careers that have been extended only by the professionalism shown by both players throughout their careers remaining in excellent physical shape and totally dedicated to the sport.
For Arango, it is easy to agree that the Venezuelan soccer midfielder represents the best player that that country has produced. Having played in over 100 official matches for Venezuela, he is one of the few Venezuelan players to play for a first division team in any major European leagues. Arango spent most of his career in the Spanish Liga with Mallorca, appearing in 196 matches.
Arango has represented Venezuela in five Copa America tournaments, and also played several years with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Via the world’s soccer fans, he has even been named the most popular player in the world. A very special distinction for any international player.
It is more difficult to place Pizarro in the same plane as the best player in the history of Peru, when compared with the figures of the past that have characterized the elegance and good ball handling in the Andean football history. Figures like Teofilo Cubillas, Hugo Sotil, Julio Cesar Uribe, Cesar Cueto, Victor Benites, Lolo Fernandez, Héctor Chumpitaz, Julio Melendez, Juan Joya and Perico Leon, among others.
But for his achievements, the Bayern Munich striker, with a highly successful career in Germany and abroad being the maximum scorer in Bundesliga history with 16 titles in Europe, it’s hard not to place him also on the cusp of Peruvian football.
Today, Arango remains a cornerstone and a figure in Mexican soccer, with Xolos of Tijuana, where last weekend the Venezuelan midfielder scored his eighth goal of the season competing in league and cup play, in route to the teamâs victory and helping the border team to keep their first place in the soccer standings in that country.
On a dead ball and a privileged left foot, Arango remains as one of the best players in the world in the specialty of free shot at goal. At his current stride, Noel Sanvicente, will have a great weapon in his arsenal for the upcoming friendlies and then the official matches of Copa America play.
In his 116th cap, Arango equaled the record for most goals scored by a Venezuela player with 22 goals. He now holds the record with 23 scores on 121 matches, highlighting the fact that his position has been the midfield and in a striker position.
For the eternal captain of the Vinotinto, his call to the national squad at this time was practically automatic, not at all questioned.
Not so the case of Carlos Pizarro, also the capitan by hierarchy of the “Blanquirroja” since his call from Gareca, was questioned due to the low game time he has had in the Bundesliga, although respectable football men such as Pep Guardiola, coach of Bayern Munich, says Pizarro: “It’s the best striker we have in the area. When you get there the ball is shot,” Guardiola said at a news conference on Pizarro, who now has 36 years old. Two years older than Arango.
For its part, explaining the call of the “Bomber of the Andes”, Gareca said in an interview:
“Claudio Pizarro is an incredible player internationally renowned as well as a flawless professional and I believe he is an important player for this match. The fact that he has limited game time in Germany, in this case is irrelevant to me.”
To the casual fan, the inactivity of Pizarro could be seen as motivated by his age, or lack of competitive level. However; those who follow the sport closely and especially the Bayern Munich team, know that the strategy was changed by Guardiola whose formations now tend to lean towards a more balanced team defensively, eliminating natural strikers like Pizarro – and using insider men more on a style of ball possession and group attack.
With daily training and preparation to be always ready to come into a match, technical and physical level, Pizarro is still physically fit, to the extent that there is talk of a possible contract extension at the end of the current season with the German team.
History supports Pizarro, who since 2010 is the highest foreign born striker in the Bundesliga also the foreigner with the most games under his belt. In general, his scoring has surpassed legendary players like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Rudi Völler and Uwe Seeler.
Those, in brief, are the profiles of the two international figures coinciding in Fort Lauderdale, in the match between Peru and Venezuela, one of the few and perhaps among the last face to face matches between these two historical players in this part of the world.
