Mexico in trouble after falling to Venezuela in Copa América

Mexico in trouble after falling to Venezuela in Copa América

Mexico lost for the first time ever with their senior team against Venezuela by a 1-0 score in their second match in this year’s edition of Copa América. The match puts Mexico in a really tough situation as they now face a must-win match against Ecuador on Sunday for a chance to get to the quarterfinals of the competition. As Ecuador had defeated Jamaica earlier in the day by a 3-1 score, this means that although both teams are tied with three points, Ecuador have a better goal difference. This means that a tie on Sunday qualifies Ecuador and eliminates Mexico, who would be going out in the Group stage of a Copa América for the first time ever with their main National team.

The match started with Mexico making two changes from the starting 11 against Jamaica. Luis Romo took the place of injured Edson Alvarez and Carlos Rodriguez surprised by taking Orbelin Pineda’s spot. Thirty seconds into the match, a shot from Uriel Antuna was just of out reach of Santiago Gimenez, who would have deflected it from close range. A cross from Luis Chavez turned into a shot that was saved by Venezuela’s goalkeeper, Rafael Romo. The ball would end up being deflected to Rodriguez, who got off a left footed shot well wide. Jefferson Soteldo would answer for Venezuela with a right footed shot from outside the area. A longball from Chavez into the area fell to Gimenez, who did a good job lowering the ball but his left footed shot was weak and Romo got off a good save to block it before it was cleared. A longball into the area found Salomon Rondon, who got off a left footed shot that hit the post. While Mexico had dominated the 1st half, it was Venezuela who had the best chance so far. The first half ended and although Mexico been clearly the better team, they had failed to score and left things open for Venezuela.

The second half started with the terrible news that because of injury, Cesar Montes had to be subbed out for Israel Reyes. Montes had been Mexico best defender against Jamaica and in the 1st half and it was a key loss for the team. Venezuela subbed out Jefferson Savarino for Cristian Casseres. Soteldo got the ball in the area but his left footed shot was saved by Mexico’s goalkeeper, Julio Gonzalez. After a combination play, Jon Aramburu got into the area and got brought down by Julian Quiñones. The ref would give a penalty kick for Venezuela. Salomon Rondon stepped up to take the PK and would place his right footed shot past Gonzalez and into the net to score and give Venezuela the 1-0 lead. While Mexico had been the better side in the half, Venezuela had dominated the 2nd half and got their reward quickly. Mexico subbed out Santiago Gimenez and Carlos Rodriguez for Guillermo Martinez and Alexis Vega. A cross into the area from Quiñones was just out of reach of Martinez. The ball would go close to still going in after that but Romo made a good save on it. Venezuela subbed out Eduard Bello for Darwin Machis. Mexico subbed out Uriel Antuna for Cesar Huerta. Luis Romo got a shot inside the area but it went well wide. Mexico subbed out Julian Quiñones for Orbelin Pineda. A pass into the area was just out of reach of Chavez, who would have had a tap in chance had he reached. Venezuela subbed out Salomon Rondon and Jefferson Soteldo for Jhonder Cadiz and Wilker Angel. After getting the ball in the area, Huerta got a pass to Jorge Sanchez, whose shot looked to be blocked by a defender as all every Mexican player asked for a handball and a PK. The ref would go to VAR and rule that defender Miguel Navarro had handled the ball and gave a PK to Mexico. Pineda would step up to take the PK but would get off a terrible shot that was well saved by Romo. It capped a terrible night for Mexico. Huerta would get the ball in the area but his left footed shot was saved by Romo. Venezuela subbed out Yangel Herrera for Christian Makoun. The last minutes had Venezuela sitting back as Mexico had complete control of the ball. A cross into the area fell to Martinez, who was alone in the area but crashed his shot into Romo. The ball would bounce to Huerta, whose left footed shot went right into a Venezuelan defender’s back. A cross into the area found Martinez but his header went wide and although Romo got to the ball, his shot was blocked by a defender. It the end it was not enough and Mexico lost and is now with one foot out of Copa America.

Mexico had one of their better performances in a very mediocre year, but it was not enough for a result as they make notorious history with their first ever loss against Venezuela. Manager Jaime Lozano’s time might be running out as Mexico are not currently in third place in Group B and out of the tournament. They’ll need to win against Ecuador, who looked to be the better rival out of three, but lost to Venezuela after going down to 10 players early in the match. Ecuador will have the advantage that a tie puts them through and Mexico will have a chance for another historic low point as it will be the first time ever for Mexico to not make it out of the group stage with their main team. Mexico failed to make it in 2011 and 2015, but in 2011, CONCACAF forced them to take an U-23 team with 5 overaged players. In 2015, Mexico announced they’d go with a B team since they needed to play the 2015 Gold Cup with their A team as the Confederations Cup ticket was on the line. Now Lozano will attempt to stop this free fall, or it might be the end of his tenure.