Written by Juan Pereira

Photo by Juan Pereira

No Dynamo? No problem! This weekend, Shell Energy Stadium was the host of two matches while the Dynamo were off to Colorado. On Saturday, the Dash had their 2024 home opener, and on Sunday, Houston hosted Venezuela and Guatemala, which drew a packed crowd of both Venezuelans and Guatemalans. The vibes were immaculate, and the football on display during the Venezuela-Guatemala match reflected that.

In the early part of this game, it was Venezuela who was controlling the tempo and the pace of play, but Guatemala, backed up by a powerful contingent of supporters, also had some dangerous chances. The first 15 minutes of this game resembled a cat-and-mouse affair in which Venezuela, the cat, would create a majority of the chances without results. Guatemala, on the other hand, would wait for Venezuela to move forward and strike on the counter.

As the game entered the 30th minute, things started to get a little chippy, and Guatemala began to push forward with more possession. Entering halftime, however, Venezuela began to find their rhythm despite Guatemala fouling them constantly.

In the second half, we saw Salomon Rondon enter the pitch as a substitute. The greatest Venezuelan player of all time was greeted to cheers all day long from the Venezuela faithful. When he entered the game, Venezuela began to employ a formation which featured two strikers.

In the 46th minute, Guatemala had their best chance of the day when a loose ball found an attacker in the box. The shot was parried away by Joel Graterol, who had a very good performance for Venezuela.

In the 53rd minute, Salomon Rondon played a beautiful ball to Sergio Córdova, but the ensuing shot was blocked by Guatemala’s Nicholas Hagen. That was the clearest chance for Venezuela in the match. As time wore on, Guatemala reverted to their low-possession stance, and Venezuela piled on the pressure.

In the 83rd minute, Hagen was able to block another Venezuelan shot, and then, both sides tried to grab a winner with no success. The game ended in a 0-0 draw; that’s a fair result given that both sides played really good football throughout.

It was obvious that Venezuela rested some players and tried some new tactics while Guatemala were looking to win this match with the crowd behind them. Even though there were no goals, fireworks were fully on display, much to the delight of the fans in attendance.