Catalonia beat Venezuela 2-1 in friendly in Spain

Venezuela followed its win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina by losing to Catalonia 2-1 in a friendly on Monday, according AP.

Javi Puado scored in the 88^th minute to give the hosts the win at Girona’s Montilivi Stadium. Bojan Krkic opened the scoring in the 53^rd and Venezuela equalised through Roberto Rosales in the 59^th.

Catalonia was led by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, who retired from Spain’s national team after the World Cup last year. He nearly scored with a curling free kick that struck the crossbar in the first half.

Venezuela earned a convincing 3-1 win over Argentina in Madrid on Friday, but after the game Venezuela coach Rafael Dudamel offered his resignation because he was not happy with the politicization of a pre-game visit to the squad.

Dudamel, who was on the bench on Monday, had said his future would depend on talks with Venezuelan soccer federation officials. He did not show up for the post-match news conference, and an assistant said a decision would be made only after the squad returned to Venezuela.