Bocha Batista on Paredes clash in Argentina v Venezuela: "He rattled me" | OneFootball

Fernando Batista, who ceased to be the coach of Venezuela after being eliminated from the 2026 World Cup, lamented the clash with Leandro Paredes in the Vinotinto's 3-0 defeat against the Argentine National Team: “It threw me off my game. Leo is a guy I've known since he was eight years old and well... it hurt me”.

“It hurt me, it upset me, it was a situation that doesn't reflect who he is”, admitted Batista in a conversation with DSports Radio and added: “There was talk of a Messifest and I played with that statement. We were playing against the best team in history, for a spot in the World Cup, and we had to give our players strong motivation. I apologize if they took it the wrong way”.

On another note, the 55-year-old coach referred to the 6-3 defeat against Colombia, which left his former team out of the World Cup playoffs: “There was a lot of nervousness. When we got to the locker room, I didn't want them to find out the result of Bolivia – Brazil (the locals won 1-0). My halftime talk was to calm them down. When they scored the 3-2, I think we went into that madness and Colombia found calm. We did everything we shouldn't have done”.

In line with this, he said he is still in a state of “sporting mourning” and recalled: “The only thing I wanted or managed to do was to apologize to the Venezuelan people, the players, the federation. These are very ugly moments. There are tears, anger”. Finally, he concluded: “I apologize again. I know that at some point Venezuela will play in the World Cup”.

Lastly, Bocha appreciated: “When we arrived, the players didn't want to go to the National Team. Today, when they are not called up, they regret it. We have projected almost 9 or 10 players for the changeover. They are the future. I like to be in a place and leave something behind. Sometimes when you lose, you also leave things behind”.

The Buenos Aires native, born in Villa Urquiza, was in charge of Venezuela for 28 matches, of which he won 9, drew 8, and lost 11. “Today Venezuela has many players on the radar that it didn't have before. We did a great job with scouting. It might seem that the final work is not useful, but I leave with peace of mind about that”, he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.