Venezuela’s under-17 women’s football team defies expectations

Americas Now

Venezuela, traditionally a baseball-playing country, has not qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, after a disappointing performance in the qualifiers by its national side. Football is however gaining in popularity in the Latin American nation. And particularly women’s football.

In years past, Venezuelan society didn’t pay much attention to female football teams. But that quickly changed in 2016 when the country’s under-17 women’s national team surpassed all expectations by winning matches against some of the best teams on the continent and in the world. They are now considered one of the country’s greatest football success stories and are even the subject of a new film.

Correspondent Stephen Gibbs tells us more about their tale of triumph.