Venezuela Beats Colombia (2-1)

Venezuela beats Colombia, 2-1, in international friendly at Giants Stadium

Venezuela's ability to capitalize on its scoring chances proved to be the decisive factor in an international friendly against Colombia marked by physical play.

In front of a sparse crowd at Giants Stadium Wednesday night, goals from Oswaldo Vizcarrondo and Jose Manuel Rey powered the Venezuelans to a 2-1 victory.

The game was followed by a friendly between Ecuador and Jamaica.

Venezuela turned a rare spell of pressure in the Colombian end into the decisive goal in the 72nd minute.

A pair of corner kicks proved fruitless, but as the Colombian defense scrambled to reset, Venezuela midfielder Luis Manuel Seijas curled a ball from the left side onto the head of the unmarked Vizcarrondo. The defender rose and powered the ball into the back of the net as Agustin Julio, the Colombian goalkeeper who came on in the 67th minute, watched helplessly.

Despite spurts of possession in the first half, Venezuela tallied the first goal, in the 35th minute, on a sensational free kick from Rey, a defender.

Giancarlo Maldonado, the Venezuela captain, played a low through-ball to Nicolas Fedor, who was sprinting down the center of the field between two Colombia defenders. As Fedor reached the low pass at the edge of the 18, he was slammed to the ground by an Ivan Ramiro Cordoba hip check.

The referee awarded a free kick to Venezuela as Fedor rolled back and forth on the turf. Rey stepped over the ball and curled a picture-perfect free kick over the wall, past the sprawling Colombia goalkeeper, David Ospina, into the left corner of the net.

Suddenly, Venezuela had an unexpected 1-0 lead.

Moments later, Fedor began causing more problems for the Colombia defense. He pounced on a ball near the right sideline that was misplayed by Colombia captain Mario Alberto Yepes. Fedor sprinted toward the goal and angled a shot past Ospina that ricocheted hard off the crossbar.

It did not take Colombia long to draw even, however.

Four minutes after Rey's goal, Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who plays professionally for FC Porto, in Portugal, notched the equalizer on a hard-earned piece of determination and skill.

Garcia displayed his determination first, by corralling a bouncing ball at the top of the Venezuela box and fighting off a pair of defenders. He then pivoted and struck the ball low and hard with his right foot.

Venezuela goalkeeper Renny Vega, who had made three saves until that point, in the 39th minute, had no chance to make a fourth as the ball slid into the lower left corner of the net.

As the game opened up in the second half, play became more physical and tempers started to flare. Colombia midfielder Fabian Vargas was shown a second yellow card in the 86th minute, both awarded for hard tackles.

Two minutes later, Venezuela midfielder Pedro Fernandez, was shown a straight red card.