Venezuela football team - from rags to riches?

Previously known as the worst team in the Copa America, Venezuela has shown a significant improvement in recent years which may lead them to glory in this year's tournament.

In South American football, Venezuela have earned the nickname 'Cinderella', according to Copa America's official website, due to their low level of football and for being the only country within the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) never to qualify for a World Cup, is this about to change?

Venezuela, nicknamed 'The Burgundy', have had very few moments of glory throughout their history in the game and the majority of these moments have been in the XXI century.

Traditionally more of a baseball country, Venezuela's transformation began with their four consecutive victories during the final qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea putting the team ahead of Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Paraguay according to sports writer Jhonkarlos Guinan.

For any other country with a long-standing tradition of football this winning streak would not be anything out of the ordinary but for Venezuela, it put an end to their chronic losing streak.

'The Burgundy' continued to improve on the road to Germany 2006, wrote Guinan in Copa America's official website. After suffering defeats against Ecuador and Argentina, Venezuela went on to win against Colombia, Bolivia and Uruguay however it wasn't enough to qualify for the World Cup 2006.

Off the back of their surprising results in the World Cup qualifier, Venezuela hosted the Copa America in 2007. The team topped their group which included Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay and went as far as the quarter finals in the tournament for the first time in history.

Venezuela's 2-0 win over Peru in that tournament marked their first win in the contest since 1967.

After this result 'The Burgundy' became more hungry than ever for victory and especially focused on qualifying for a World Cup.

With a change of manager from Richard Paez to Cesar Farias the team went from strength to strength qualifying for the Under 20s World Cup and they were only two points away from reaching the World Cup South Africa 2010. That were the closest they had ever been.

While the world was watching South Africa, Farias began a renovation process within the squad which involved playing 20 friendlies, trying over 60 footballers in any set up and formation.

Continuing with the regeneration of the team, before the Copa America 2011, Venezuela went to Dallas, United States to play a pre-season to get them ready for the tournament.

The Copa America 2011 was very important for the South American side as it marked the start of the path to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

After more than a year of intensive training, 'The Burgundy' surprised everyone by playing with a high level to draw with Brazil in their first match of the tournament.

From that day, many people forgot about the team's past humiliations said Guinan. Venezuela went on to win the fourth place in the contest after losing in penalties to Paraguay in the semi-final.

The Copa America 2011 confirmed Venezuela's progress in recent years. To finish in the top four of the oldest football tournament in the world is obviously an important highlight in 'The Burgundy's' short history.

With a new-found ambition and drive, the team faced the World Cup 2014 qualification campaign but were still unable to qualify however they gained South America's respect and left behind the Cinderella nickname.

With a new manager, Noel Sanvicente, recently at the helm 'The Burgundy' will start their Copa America 2015 campaign on June 14 against Colombia.

Although the team is currently in a period of transition with new manager Noel Sanvicente at the helm, there are still players on the team who played in 2011 and they know the team's capabilities and if the team works together and believes in itself then it will make for a very interesting tournament. Endi