The Deportivo Táchira beat this Saturday at Caracas FC in the great final of Venezuelan soccer and won the ninth championship in its history, after a game that was defined on penalties by not scoring a goal in regulation time or extra time.
The special edition of the Venezuelan soccer classic did not have much success and, after 120 minutes of play, the Russian penalty roulette gave life to the Táchira, who scored four, for the two that the Caracas.
In a peculiar match, in which the Deportivo Táchira He played at home condition despite the fact that the duel was played on Caracas soil, the two teams jumped onto the field with more will than ability to open the rival’s lines.
Both teams tried for the first 45 minutes to impose their strength as a group, beyond individual sparks, and, despite there were rough moments, neither of them was able to impose their rhythm on the rival.
They went to the changing rooms with the same result with which the game began, with the defenses as protagonists and only a few flashes of the Nigerian Samson Akinyoola, which put the defense of the Táchira, and from the Panamanian Freddy Gondola, which made the caraqueña behind sweat.
Around the dressing room, the teams began to find gaps in the defenses of the rivals, more due to errors from the rear than due to the hits of the attackers.
Dangerous occasions followed but none of the teams had the talent or the good work to score the first goal, while the game was getting rough.
In the absence of good opportunities, physical shocks became the protagonists until, in the 79th minute, the Ghanaian Kwaku Bonsu Osei, of Caracas, was sent off for a double yellow after hitting a rival in the face in a childish way.
Not even with one more player was the scoreboard opened. Neither team was able to make good plays, so the game went into extra time.
To the lack of success was added the fatigue during the 30 minutes of extra time, in which several footballers seemed to be annulled by fatigue.
With the players fused and almost without ideas, the 30 minutes added were an ordeal for the muscles of the footballers and for the spirits of the fans.
Arrived at the penalty shootout, Richard Celis Y Edson Castillo scored the first two pitches of the Caracas, while the tachirense goalkeeper stopped the third-launched by Jorge Echeverría- and Carlos Rivero threw the room to the wood.
On the black and white side, Lucas Gómez, Maurice Cova, Pablo Camacho and Marlon Fernández scored all four penalties in four attempts.
-Data sheet:
0. Deportivo Táchira: Cristopher Varela; Pablo Camacho, Jesús Quintero, Lucas Trejo, José Luis Granados; Yerson Chacón (m.90, Marlon Fernández), Francisco Flores (m.71, Yeferson Velasco), Maurice Cova, Freddy Góndola (m.83, Edson Tortolero); Edgar Pérez Greco (m.71, Nelson Hernández) and Anthony Uribe (m.83, Lucas Gómez).
Trainer: Juan D. Tolisano.
0. Caracas FC: Beycker Velasquez; Eduardo Fereira (m.61, Jorge Echeverría), Carlos Rivero, Diego Osío, Sandro Notaroberto (m.88, Rosmel Villanueva); Leonardo Flores (m.88, Junior Moreno), Edson Castillo, Manuel Sulbarán (m.61, Luis Casiani), Kwaku Bonsu; Richard Celis and Samson Akinyoola.
Trainer: Noel Sanvicente.
Referee: Jesús Valenzuela sent off Kwaku Bonsu for a double yellow and admonished Carlos Rivero, Leonardo Flores and Diego Osío from Caracas, as well as Pablo Camacho and Maurice Cova from Táchira. He also expelled the Caracas FC doctor.
Incidents: Final of the Venezuelan soccer league played at the Olympic Stadium of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) before 14,398 spectators.
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