The Venezuelan national team beat Mexico 1-0 at the SoFi stadium in California, in the second round of Group B of the Copa América in the United States, and qualified for the quarterfinals.
Argentine Fernando Batista’s team came into this match after what was the historic 2-1 victory against Ecuador on the first date of the competition, in California. The ‘Vinotinto’ started losing with Jeremy Sarmiento’s goal but, with goals from Jhonder Cádiz and Eduard Bello, they turned the match around and managed to turn a result in the Copa América for the first time.
In front was Jaime Lozano’s North American team, which started the tournament on Saturday by beating Jamaica 1-0 in Houston. The Aztec team gave a poor performance, the Jamaicans even scored a goal at the beginning of the second half, which the American referee Ismail Elfath annulled after resorting to VAR, but they were able to achieve the victory with Gerardo Arteaga’s goal.
In a SoFi stadium full of Mexican and Venezuelan fans, the first half was even and pure friction between two teams that did not bother goalkeepers Rafael Romo and Julio González.
Already in the complement, at 9 minutes, the right back Jon Aramburu overflowed his side in the Mexican area and the Colombian nationalized Mexican, Julián Quiñones, touched his left leg, destabilizing the Venezuelan player who fell and immediately the Brazilian referee Raphael Clauss penalized.
Striker Salomón Rondón was the one who took charge of the maximum penalty and executed it in a great way, crossing the shot to the left post while goalkeeper González flew to the right.
In the 41st minute, after a cross into the area, Uriel Antuna shot at goal and Yordan Osorio intercepted the shot with his hand and head, something that referee Clauss did not notice at first but, after being called by the VAR and going to see it, he decided to award a penalty.
Midfielder Orbelín Pineda took charge of the penalty and executed a cross to the left post where goalkeeper Romo guessed and cleared the shot with one hand.
With this result, the Venezuelan team qualified for the quarterfinals of the continental competition for the sixth time in its history and will decide whether to be first or second next Sunday against Jamaica at the Q2 stadium in Austin, Texas.
For its part, Mexico dropped to third place in the group and will play its chances of advancing to the phase in next Sunday’s game against Ecuador at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
