When Ceferino Bencomo took charge of Caracas FC in April of 2010 he inherited an ageing squad featuring a number of players the wrong side of thirty. He inspired his elder statesman to one last triumph by defeating Deportivo Tachira in the 2009/10 championship final, but thereafter embarked on a plan to rejuvenate the side, bringing in young players from the club’s well-appointed academy and elsewhere in Venezuela.
That strategy has begun to bear fruit over the last year or so, and there were clear signs of the club’s progress in their superb 2-1 win over Gremio on Tuesday, their first ever Copa Libertadores victory against a team from Brazil. Back in 2009, Caracas lost on away goals to Gremio at the quarter-final stage of the competition with a starting eleven that had an average age of just less than 29. On Tuesday, none of their starters were older than 28.
This was no fluke either. The home side held their own against a team that Bencomo described after the match as “one of the favourites to win the Libertadores”, defending solidly and posing a threat whenever one of their two inventive attacking midfielders received possession in the final third. Gremio equalled the home side’s eleven shots on goal, but after Elano’s headed opener mustered none that truly tested their goalkeeper Alain Baroja.
The individual errors that had led to Caracas losing 4-1 in Brazil the week before did briefly rear their ugly head, with Angelo Pena guilty of sloppily ceding possession in the build-up to the Gremio goal and Edwin Peraza lucky not to be punished after gifting the ball to Eduardo Vargas in the second half. But it was otherwise an excellent performance from a side with an average age just a shade over 23.
Pena, author of two goals and an assist in Caracas’ 3-1 win away to Huachipato earlier in the group stage, scored the home side’s first and was again one of their standout performers, but was overshadowed on the night by his fellow attacking midfielder, 20-year-old Romulo Otero. With a frame, haircut and playing style similar to the Brazilian forward Willian of Anzhi Makhachkala, Otero was a constant menace, impressing with his close control and quick feet.
Pena and Otero have taken centre stage during the club’s Libertadores campaign to date and both have been called up by national team coach Cesar Farias for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Colombia, but others are also worthy of praise. Peraza, 20, is a solid, composed presence in the centre of defence; Edder Farias, 24, is a bright second striker with good touch and awareness; and athletic full-back Francisco Carabali, 22, has also shown a good deal of promise.
These players will all be looking to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Alexander Gonzalez and Josef Martinez, who both joined the Swiss side Young Boys in 2012 after impressing for Caracas, and young striker Fernando Aristeguieta, who joined Nantes of France on loan at the start of this year after scoring 14 goals in 17 appearances in the second half of 2012.
Caracas are yet to add to their 11 domestic championships since reverting to their youth-based approach, but after finishing second in the first half of the current campaign can be hopeful of ending that drought sooner rather than later. “I will soon have been in charge of the first team for three years and the things we have done are very significant”, Bencomo explained in the post-match press conference. “We have not won a title, but we have a refreshed team, we know our philosophy and we are clear about what we are doing."
The victory moved Caracas up to joint-second in the group, level on points with Gremio and just a point removed from leaders Fluminense, giving them a decent chance of becoming the first Venezuelan team since their elder incarnation of 2009 to reach the knockout phase of the competition. Their chances rest on a home tie against Huachipato and a trip to Rio de Janeiro to face Fluminense, but even if they do fail to make it out of the group it is clear that Caracas are a team on the up.
Goal of the Week
Diego Braghieri (26) – Arsenal de Sarandi (Argentina) vs Sao Paulo (Brazil)
When a team’s future in the competition is hanging in the balance the last person they want to see a partially cleared free kick fall to on the edge of the area is a central defender with just three goals to his name over the last three seasons. Unless, it seems, his name is Diego Braghieri. With five minutes remaining his superb, controlled left foot volley nestled into the bottom corner of the net to give Arsenal three points at home to Sao Paulo.
Player of the Week
Wilson Pittoni (27) – Olimpia (Paraguay)
Thus far a peripheral figure since his move from Figueirense at the start of the year, Pittoni staked his place for more regular inclusion with two well taken goals and a good overall performance as Olimpia made up for last weekend’s 2-2 draw at home to Deportivo Lara by thrashing the Venezuelan side 5-1 on Wednesday to move to the top of Group 7.
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