Venezuela, no longer the whipping boys of South American football, took their first ever points in 19 qualifiers against Argentina when central defender Fernando Amorebieta headed the only goal from a Juan Arango corner just past the hour.
"In these qualifiers we're going full out, this is an historic night and we must enjoy it," Venezuela captain Arango told reporters.
It was a first defeat for Argentina's new coach Alejandro Sabella, who took charge in August after Sergio Batista was sacked following his team's quarter-final defeat to Uruguay in that tournament.
"We were superior for the first 25 minutes but we came up against a well-prepared Venezuela," Sabella told reporters.
Experienced in the marathon South American qualifying campaign having assisted Daniel Passarella with the Argentina team that reached the 1998 quarter-finals in France, Sabella added: "It's a long, hard road. We'll try to work hard to overcome what happened today."
