The opportunities abounded early for Mexico on Wednesday night yet the breakthrough never came. Instead, a Venezuela squad currently ranked No. 44 by FIFA outplayed the No. 15 team and came away with a 1-0 win in front of the heavily pro-Mexican crowd.
For the second straight 2024 Copa América match at SoFi Stadium, the “home” team failed to deliver. On Monday, it was Brazil failing to find the net against Costa Rica in a 0-0 draw in front of thousands of yellow jerseys in the stands. On Wednesday, it was El Tri getting beaten by Venezuela in what was basically a home game as Mexico fans filled the stadium and left disappointed.
Mexico’s Julián Quiñones will be the fall guy since it was his mistake that led to the Venezuela penalty. After Quiñones made an ugly challenge inside the box on Venezuela’s Jon Aramburu the ref didn’t think twice before awarding the penalty. And it was Venezuela’s Salomon Rondon, who plays for Liga MX side Pachuca, that converted the penalty that was the difference in the match.
El Tri has opened their tournament run with a bittersweet win over Jamaica on Saturday night at NRG Stadium in Houston. Mexico eked out a 1-0 victory thanks to a Gerardo Arteaga goal in the 69th minute, but lost Edson Álvarez to injury in his first match wearing the captain’s armband. Álvarez confirmed via social media Tuesday that his tournament is over as the West Ham star will focus on rehabilitating his injured leg.
Venezuela faced no such hurdles in its tourney opener against Ecuador. La Vinotinto secured a somewhat surprising 2-1 win after Ecuador captain Enner Valencia was shown a red card for a dangerous play inside the box that found his cleat connect with the face of Philadelphia Union’s Jose Martinez. Down a man, Ecuador surrendered two goals in the second half.
With Wednesday’s win, Venezuela sits atop Group B with six points and will be moving on to the quarterfinals after its match Sunday against Jamaica. Ecuador is currently second in the group with three points after its 3-1 win over Jamaica in the early game Wednesday. Mexico needs a win Sunday against Ecuador to move into second and into the quarterfinals.
Here’s how the match unfolded:
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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 26: Cesar Montes of Mexico and Nahuel Ferraresi of Venezuela argue during the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 Group B match between Venezuela and Mexico at SoFi Stadium on June 26, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images) -
Source Agencies
