CARACAS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela hosts soccer's Copa America for the first time in history, hoping its citizen remember the competition as the nation's best ever footballing performance, local media said on Tuesday.

The Copa, which begins on Tuesday, puts Venezuela in Group A facing Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia. The team's first two games are in San Cristobal, Venezuela's most football-mad city, and will play its final Group A game in Merida against Uruguay, one of the teams deemed most likely to win.

Football is not one of the nation's top sports, and most Venezuelans prefer baseball, but the national team has played six friendly games since January, double the number of Brazil. Venezuela's most recent game was a loss to Spain's Basque Country regional squad.

Among Venezuela's major players is Juan Arango, who plays for Spanish league team Mallorca. Venezuela, the last nation to join the South American Football Federation, has been in the Copa just 13 times and racked up only one win out of 45 games played.

Venezuela's first match will be against Bolivia, a team managed by Juan Carlos Arce, a forward for Brazilian league giant, Corinthians.

Its most recent matches were a goalless draw against Paraguay, a 5-1 battering of El Salvador, a 1-0 defeat of South Africa and a draw with Ireland.

Bolivia has been in 22 editions of the Copa winning 19 of its 99 games.

The Copa now in its 32nd edition, runs until July 17 in nine Venezuelan cities.