DANI PEREIRA CALLED-UP
Daniel Pereira, the 23-year-old Austin FC midfielder, earns his second call-up for the Venezuelan National Team in what would be his third match representing “La Vinotinto.” Venezuela will face their neighboring rivals, Colombia, in Miami on Sunday, December 10th, at 5 pm CT.
Late Tuesday night, the Venezuelan Soccer Federation (FVF) revealed the list of players that will gather in Miami ahead of the match, with the player from the Verde & Black as one of the most exciting names on the roster. Dani, who debuted with La Vinotinto last summer, came in as a sub against Honduras and immediately earned his starting position in the next game a few days later against Guatemala. Both games resulted in a 1-0 win for “Los Chamos.”
Due to his political situation in the U.S., Dani was unable to keep representing La Vinotinto outside of the country, for which he missed the last 6 games in the South American World Cup Qualifiers in September, October, and November of 2023. However, after the minutes played in those summer friendlies, he left a very good impression on the fans, the Venezuelan media, and Venezuela’s head coach, Fernando “Bocha” Batista along with his staff, which has now earned him yet another chance to play for his country.
December 10th isn’t a FIFA date, which means clubs around the world aren’t required to let their players go to their national teams. For this reason, Venezuela has opted to use this friendly as an opportunity to mix the Pre-olympic U23 team with players from the local league and MLS, since both leagues would be concluded by then and the players are free of club duties. As a result, Dani will reunite with familiar faces from MLS, like Jesus Bueno (Philadelphia Union), Wikelman Carmona (New York Red Bulls), Javier Otero, and Moises Tabalante (Orlando City).
As stated by the FVF, Dani “will be included in this work module as part of the project established by head coach Fernando Batista and his staff.” This could mean that, despite his previous absence, Dani remains in the plans of La Vinotinto, awaiting his legal situation to resolve.
On the other hand, they will face a different kind of roster from Colombia. “Los Cafeteros” decided to also announce players from the Colombian league and MLS, such as Andres Reyes (New York Red Bulls), C. Andres Gomez (Real Salt Lake), J. Camilo “Cucho” Hernandez (Columbus Crew), and J. David Mosquera (Portland Timbers) with the addition of veterans like goalkeeper David Ospina. However, their age and experience are noticeably higher, since they aren’t strictly a U23 team. Nevertheless, this promises to be a great challenge and an even bigger opportunity for Dani to display his talent and increase his chances of being called up for the 2024 Copa America in the USA next summer.
On a related note, Austin FC and Q2 stadium announced on December 4th that they will host two games for the Copa America on June 30th and July 2nd of 2024. At the moment, it is unknown which countries get to play at the Q2 stadium since the draw for the group stage will happen today December 7th. However, if Venezuela were to be assigned to the third or fourth spot of either group B or D, they would play at the Q2 Stadium, making it possible for Dani to play Copa America in his very own home with the support of the Austin FC fans.
You can catch the Colombia vs Venezuela friendly this Sunday at 5 pm CT through TV channel Caracol TV or PPV.
Wrirren By Alex Sanabria
