Venezuela's vino tinto earns respect in 'the country of baseball'
Its men's soccer team won just its second Copa America game in more than 40 years of the tournament.
By Andrew Downiefrom the July 12, 2007 edition
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The country of baseball has succumbed to soccer.
The Copa America, the tournament played between the 10 South American soccer nations plus the US and Mexico, is taking place in Venezuela right now – and against all odds, it is a success.
The tournament has even rivaled this week's All-Star game in terms of interest.
"If both the Copa America and the All-Star game were on TV at the same time, I wouldn't know which to watch," admitted Miguel Diaz, an architecture student and sports fanatic who is traveling the country watching Copa America matches.
That dilemma came Tuesday night when the big leagues faced off at the same time as Brazil played Uruguay. The diplomatic Mr. Diaz found the obvious solution. "I think I'll flick between the channels," he said with a smile.
Fans have packed stadiums, even though some are only half-finished, and Venezuela reached the knockout stages for the first time ever.
"For 40 years, we had no respect or dignity (for soccer)," says Domingo Carrasquel, a former professional with the L.A. Dodgers team and now the manager of a baseball school in the western city of Barquisimeto. "The Copa America has reawakened interest in soccer."
Traditionally, soccer has never rivaled baseball. Both sports were introduced at the end of the 19th century. But whereas British miners brought soccer to remote regions where the lack of people meant that it spread slowly, Americans brought baseball to the main cities where it caught on quickly, says Julio Ordaneta, the sports editor at El Informador, Barquisimeto's newspaper.
Later, Roman Catholic priests from Italy and Spain taught football in schools. But the schools charged a fee, which meant that soccer won a reputation as the game of the monied classes, while baseball was seen as the people's game.
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