After a nightmare start to the Copa América, Venezuela is beginning to emerge as one of the surprise stories of the tournament.
In the days leading up to the Copa América opener against Brazil, a COVID-19 outbreak in the Venezuela squad decimated the side, leading to the team calling up 15 emergency replacements just a day before its first game. What followed was a thrashing from defending champion Brazil that could have been much worse than the 3–0 scoreline.
But in its second match against Colombia, 15th in the FIFA world rankings, Venezuela's replacement side put together an inspiring performance in a scoreless draw to earn a point, despite facing 23 shots and holding only 35% possession.