After Sao Paulo’s emphatic 3-1 victory over Fluminense at the end of July, Nahuel Ferraresi sat down next to Yeferson Soteldo on the Estadio do Morumbi pitch. As night descended on the South American metropolis, the close friends caught up with each other after 90 minutes of Brazilian top-flight action.
Fans might have wondered whether they were chatting about the magnitude of Venezuela’s upcoming fixtures. As it turns out, the subject of their conversation was more down to earth.
“I wanted to know how he and his family were doing,” Ferraresi told FIFA. “We’re like brothers, I’ve known him for more than eight years. It’s a pleasure to be out there on the pitch with him. It’s always an honour because I love him dearly as a friend.”
Their long-standing friendship also stems from their time together in the Venezuelan national team. And even though their exchange on the Morumbi turf may have centred around casual matters, the only topic now on Ferraresi’s mind is the dream of steering his country to their first-ever FIFA World Cup™.
A trip to face Argentina in Buenos Aires on Thursday, 4 September will be followed by a home tie with Colombia on the following Tuesday, and the Vinotinto are all too aware that those 180 minutes will go a long way to deciding their fate. At the very least, they will be looking to cement seventh place and secure a berth in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament, which will ultimately determine the final two nations to progress to next year’s global extravaganza.
“Those games will be make or break,” said Ferraresi. “We have to go into them confident that we are a top side capable of meeting the challenge and picking up maximum points so that we can go through directly or via the play-offs.
“We know that qualifying directly might look a little tricky based on the current standings, but we’re going to fight to the bitter end to see if we can make that happen,” added the centre-back.
Venezuela currently find themselves four points adrift of Colombia, who are in sixth place, and one point ahead of Bolivia in eighth. In order to qualify directly for next year’s global showpiece, they will need to register what would be a famous win over table-toppers Argentina and hope that the Colombians get no more than a point from their home contest with Bolivia. That would set up a scenario in which Venezuela could leapfrog neighbours Colombia if they were able to record a victory when they meet on the final matchday.
Should they be unable to overcome the current four-point deficit, they must endeavour to at least maintain their slender advantage over Bolivia. To achieve either of those outcomes, the Venezuelan rearguard will need to be at the top of its game to repel the threat posed by the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Diaz. They can count themselves fortunate, then, that Ferraresi finds himself in the best form of his career.
The versatile 6’3 (1.90m) stopper seems to have slotted in nicely at Sao Paulo, who brought him in on a permanent deal in January last year following a loan spell from Manchester City.
The English giants’ parent group, City Football Group, had originally signed him in 2017, although he never made a senior appearance for the Cityzens and spent the majority of his time in the U-21 or U-23 set-up. He also spent time with Torque in Uruguay and Peralada in Spain, before turning out for FC Porto’s B team, Moreirense and Estoril in Portugal.
On being loaned out to several clubs in different countries, Ferraresi said: “It’s difficult, but I learnt something different with every side. When I look at my CV, I’ve taken things step by step, and that can only be a good thing. I don’t think you should skip steps. You have to be on a whole other level to do that. Now I’m at a club like Sao Paulo. Everyone knows what that means, and I’m really happy about that.”
The Tachira-born defender first caught Manchester City’s eye after an exceptional campaign at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup™ in Korea Republic, where Venezuela reached their first-ever final at a FIFA tournament, losing to England by a single goal.
Ferraresi’s big moment came in the quarter-finals against the USA, when he scored what would turn out to be the game’s winning goal with just five minutes of extra time remaining.
“That was my first goal for the national team at any level. And for it to have come in the [U-20] World Cup quarter-finals and to seal the win in extra time made it particularly special,” recalled Ferraresi. “I was so happy, and I even got to see my dad in the stands and celebrate with him.”
His father, Adolfo, was an Argentinian striker whose club career took him to Venezuela, putting down roots for his son to embark on a journey with the Vinotinto alongside Soteldo. Eight years later, and they have another trail to blaze.
“It was a special achievement to finish as [U-20] World Cup runners-up,” he said. “It was momentous, historic and we want to keep making history with the national team. We have a huge opportunity to do that now.”
