Guerrero: Kevin de León’s bid for sympathy digs a deeper hole
by Michael Winter // News
Kevin de León. (Bettmann Archive)
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner have called for calm after Argentina’s soccer team was embarrassed by Venezuela in the Copa América.
In a stunning development, Venezuela, which has only had one World Cup in its history, lost 1-0 against Argentina over the weekend in a game that was supposed to guarantee the South Americans passage to the quarterfinals along with Brazil.
The rout was a crushing blow to the South American team, whose fans left the pitch in a raucous mood. They blamed the team for the embarrassing game, but they also blamed the referee, the referees of both teams and even each other.
“We were humiliated in front of our own country. I don’t know what we can do except to continue to play against Brazil like we do,” a young fan told the news agency AFP after the match.
“Of course, it isn’t easy for any team to lose in the World Cup, especially to a team that hasn’t had it before. But we also shouldn’t lose on purpose against another country.”
Chavez and Kirchner could have added to the anger by blaming not only the referee but their own players, who had been called out for their role in the game.
“We saw what they were capable of and that’s why we don’t have to see the same things on the world stage,” Kirchner told reporters.
“We’ll keep fighting for our destiny, and we shouldn’t have to wait until a World Cup to get our points and to reach