World Cup qualifying has only just gotten underway in South America, and already CONMEBOL has had one somewhat unexpected result. Defending Copa America champs Chile may have taken until late in the match to score their goals in a 2-0 home win over Brazil, but they dominated much of that match, leaving Brazil looking like a reeling side heading into their second qualifier against Venezuela.
Brazil vs. Venezuela live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch World Cup qualifying online
Brazil got kicked in the teeth in the first round of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. Can they bounce back against Venezuela?
Julian Finney/Getty Images
Venezuela are looking a little rocky themselves, having lost at home to Paraguay in their own opener. Both teams will be coming into this match looking to right the ship and get qualifying points on the board. It’s a long slog in South America to get through the qualifying process, but no one wants to fall too far behind too early -- though Venezuela can’t really be relishing the prospect of facing a Brazil team that’s mad and has a clear objective to focus on. That’s not a fun position to be in, but if any team is always ready for a fight, it’s Venezuela.
Key player -- Kaka (Brazil)
This is a fairly oddball Brazil side as far as such things go, without Neymar and several other key players to help lead the team. That means that, no matter what role he plays, they’re going to be leaning heavily on Kaka to step up and take control of this squad, whether it be as a playmaking general to run the match or as an impact sub. Even if he doesn’t step onto the pitch, many of the younger players in the team will look to him to help try to figure out what to do, as much or more so than they will to their manager, Dunga. Kaka’s influence on this match will be massive, no matter what he does.
Key matchup -- Oscar (Brazil) vs. Tomas Rincon (Venezuela)
Oscar has not really had the easiest of seasons for Chelsea, and his side as a whole have struggled. But Brazil need him to put that behind him and get back to the things that made him a top-notch player in previous seasons, especially since Rincon -- who has been in excellent form in his club -- won’t be making things easy for him in this match. Oscar really struggled against an elite Chile midfield, and while Rincon isn’t quite on the same level as Arturo Vidal, Oscar needs to vastly improve his performance to help Brazil get all three points.
Match Date/Time: Tues., 9 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. local
Venue: Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza, Brazil
TV: beIN Sports en Espaniol (US and Canada - Spanish), Globo, SporTV (Brazil), TVes, Meridiano Television (Venezuela)
Online: beIN Sports Connect, Fubo TV (US and Canada)
See More:
