Copa América: Mexico risk another early tournament exit after loss to Venezuela
Arriving at the Copa America looking for redemption after disappointing performances at the World Cup and the Concacaf Nations League, Mexico is on the brink of an early exit.
Salomón Rondón’s penalty in the 57th minute means Venezuela advances to the quarter-finals of the Copa América after their 1-0 win over El Tri, who missed their own penalty on Wednesday evening. Venezuela, which opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over Ecuador, is assured of a place in the top two of Group B.
“I’m happy that we were able to bring some joy to the people of Venezuela, that’s what we played for, but we have to stay calm and keep our feet on the ground,” Venezuela coach Fernando Batista said. “We’re going to enjoy this tonight, but tomorrow we’re going to focus on Jamaica.”
Mexico began their tournament with a 1-0 win over Jamaica and are tied on three points with Ecuador, who defeated the Reggae Boyz 3-1 earlier on Wednesday. Mexico play Ecuador in Arizona on Sunday and need a win to advance.
“It’s a learning experience, but I’m proud of the team because they never stopped fighting. Now it’s up to us and we just talked about it in the locker room,” Mexico coach Jaime Lozano said. “The next match will put us in the next round. We are injured now, but if we play like this it will be difficult for us to lose another match.”
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Mexico was eliminated in the first round for the first time since 1978. They lost to the US in the Concacaf Nations League final in March and have not beaten the Americans since 2019.
Venezuela ended a thirteen-match winless streak El Tri. “It didn’t go as expected tonight, but we still have 90 minutes and no one is getting off this boat. We’re going to do it,” Lozano said. “We have to take the good out of this and move on. There are only a few days left and we want to start playing again. When things are tough, we play our best.”
In front of a crowd of 72,773 at SoFi Stadium, Brazilian referee Raphael Claus awarded the penalty when Julián Quiñones pushed Jon Aramburu in the penalty area. Rondón sent goalkeeper Julio González the wrong way for his 42nd goal in 107 international appearances.
Mexico had a chance to rescue a point in the 87th minute when they were awarded a penalty themselves for a Miguel Navarro handball. But Rafael Romo jumped to the right to deflect Orbelín Pineda’s attempt wide.
While the Wine Tinto reached the quarter-finals for the third time in four tournaments, Mexico are on the brink of first-round elimination for the third time in their last four Copa América trips. Under Batista, the Venezuelans have suffered only two defeats in their last fifteen matches, against Italy and Colombia.
The Mexican midfield was without Edson Álvarez, who suffered a hamstring injury against Jamaica and will miss the rest of the tournament. Defender César Montes was injured against Venezuela and was substituted at the start of the second half.