On Thursday, a friendly competition between Venezuela vs Iceland will be held on an international level in Austria. The match will be played in Austria. It will be the first and only time in either nation’s history that they have competed against each other on an international level.
This match will take place in the year. Because neither of these nations managed to make it to the World Cup in 2018, they both will need to go through extensive periods of inactivity before taking part in the upcoming big tournament.
Match Preview: Venezuela vs Iceland
Venezuela returns Thursday after three months off, having won two friendlies in June. Salomon Rondon scored the lone goal against Malta, while Nahuel Ferraresi scored against Saudi Arabia.
La Vinotinto finished last in South American World Cup qualifying with 10 points from 18 games. Their continental qualification ended in March with games against Argentina and Colombia, and with their destiny already determined.
Jose Pekerman’s side lost 3-0 and 1-0, with James Rodriguez’s penalty providing the sole difference in the latter after a magnificent effort from Venezuela. La Vinotinto will try to continue rebuilding with a third straight friendly victory on Thursday after missing the World Cup once again.
Iceland is undefeated in their past four games in all competitions, including the start of their UEFA Nations League campaign. Two thrashings of Liechtenstein were Strakarnir okkar’s only victory in 10 games before starting the Nations League in June.
First, they were held to a 2-2 draw in Israel by Shon Weissman, and then Arnar Vidarsson’s team drew 1-1 at home with Albania.
After beating San Marino, Iceland recently drew 2-2 with Israel, with Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson and Thorir Johann Helgason scoring. Strakarnir okkar will want to create momentum with a win in Austria before the end of their Nations League group campaign.
Team News: Venezuela vs Iceland
For these next friendlies, Venezuela has summoned up a strong roster despite the absence of key players like senior defenders Roberto Rosales and Alexander Gonzalez, as well as pivotal midfielder Yangel Herrera and goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez.
Salomon Rondon, now of Premier League club Everton, is Venezuela’s all-time greatest scorer with 35 goals in 89 appearances for his national team.
He’ll start it up top and yet again, with Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez also expected to be important. Nahuel Ferraresi, 23, is a good possibility to debut at central midfielder with Mikel Villanueva or Jhon Chancellor.
He has been a major player for the national team previously, garnering 19 caps. The Icelandic team is likewise well-seasoned, although they were missing many crucial players because of injuries (including winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
He is only now making progress in his rehabilitation from an injury), in the center (midfielder Arnor Ingvi Traustason), and in the forward positions (striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson). From the midfield, Aron Gunnarson should once again take the helm and Birkir Bjarnason.
Now Adana Demirspor is the squad’s all-time top scorer with 15 goals in 110 games for the national side. Alfred Finnbogason, who has scored 15 goals in 61 international appearances, will keep leading the line, while Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson provides a threat from the left side.
- Possible Lineup for Venezuela: Baroja, Hernandez, Villanueva, Ferraresi, Chancellor, Gonzalez, Jose Martinez, Rincon, Josef Martinez, Rondon, Soteldo.
- Potential Iceland Starting Players: Runarsson, Sampsted, Gretarsson, Magnusson, Olafsson, Bjarnason, Gunarsson, Palsson, Thorsteinsson, Finnbogason, Gudjohnsen.
Our Prediction: Venezuela 1-1 Iceland
We predict a low-scoring stalemate in Austria as a consequence of the fact that Iceland has shown in previous years that they are tough to defeat when they have a tight-knit group.
As a result of this, we do not expect either team to score more than two goals. In recent years, Iceland has shown that they are a difficult team to defeat, even though Venezuela may have a little bit more star power in their ranks than Iceland has.
