Copa America: Mexico finds oxygen; Venezuela tastes victory

Copa America continued its march with the start of Group B activity, with Mexico revived from the ashes to capture its first victory of the tournament; while Venezuela bet on its faith to sign a comeback in Santa Clara.

• READ MORE: Mexico 1-0 Jamaica: Highlights, stats and result
• READ MORE: Jeremy Sarmiento: From England’s youth teams to representing Ecuador

The Mexican team not only survived Jamaica’s attacks thanks to a great goal by Gerardo Arteaga with which they sealed the 1-0 victory, but also had to recover from the boos of their fans and the injury of their captain Edson Álvarez.

In turn, Venezuela similarly weathered multiple attacks and was behind 0-1 against Ecuador who played with one less player over penalties and ended up winning 2–1, fueling its ambition to reach the quarterfinals in this Copa América.

Both Mexico and Venezuela are at the top of Group B, awaiting their mutual confrontation on matchday 2.

Mexico vs Jamaica

• Arteaga’s “missile”

Minute 69 was key for the Mexican National Team, as Gerardo Arteaga shot past Jamaica’s goalkeeper, Jahmali Waite, who was responsible for several saves, and put the final 1-0 score.

• In tears, ‘El Machín‘ torn apart

If Mexico’s situation was concerning with the loss of goalkeeper Luis Ángel Malagón before the Copa America, now with the injury of captain Edson Álvarez, the outlook seems to be worse.

The Aztec midfielder suffered a tear 30 minutes into the match, being forced to leave the field without being able to support his left leg and breaking down in tears.

Alarmingly, he could miss the rest of the Copa America.

• Boos flooded NRG Stadium

The frustration of the Mexican fans was quickly revealed, and the NRG Stadium rumbled with boos for Jaime Lozano’s team on several occasions, especially at halftime after not having scored a goal in the first half.

This rough reaction from fans is not unexpected, given recent match results that have not favored the Mexican National Team: from the fall in the Nations League against the United States to the thrashing by Uruguay and the last-minute loss against Brazil.

• VAR, Mexico’s savior

With Mexico not defining its game, Jamaica gave them a huge scare with a header from Michail Antonio in the 50th minute that beat goalkeeper Julio Gonzalez to the goal.

However, the celebration was short-lived as the VAR came to the rescue of ‘El Tri’ to review the play and call an offside by the Jamaican attacker.

• Jamaica doesn’t win, doesn’t score

In their third participation in Copa América, the Jamaican squad maintains a negative record of not having scored or adding a single point in the 7 games they’ve ever played in the tournament.

With this, Jamaica is the first team in history to suffer this negative streak, surpassing the six games that Bolivia lost in the 1987 and 1989 editions.

Ecuador vs Venezuela

• Venezuela comeback

With an extra man from the 22nd minute after Ecuador’s Enner Valencia’s expulsion, Venezuela consummated their first win in the Copa América 2024 with a comeback.

The ‘Vinotinto‘ snatched the victory from Ecuador thanks to goals from Jhonder Cádiz and Eduard Bello, both coming off the bench, with which they already dreamed of an important participation in Group B.

• Ecuador’s new jewel is already in history

Kendry Páez, the midfielder who started with the Ecuadorian national team, became the youngest to compete in the Copa América in the 21st century at 17 years and 49 days.

In addition, he placed his name among the youngest debutants in the history of the continental tournament, being third on the list, only below the Chilean Humberto Elgueta (16 years and 1 day) and the Colombian Johnnier Montaño (16 years and 168 days).

• No forgiveness for Enner Valencia

Enner Valencia, Ecuador’s striker, saw the first red card of Copa América 2024 at the 22nd minute of the national team match against Venezuela

The 34-year-old veteran was sent off after a VAR review by Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan for kicking defender Jose Martinez inside the box in an attempt to pick up a rebound from the goalkeeper when the score was 0-0.

• The curious case of Jeremy Sarmiento

Jeremy Sarmiento was in charge of opening the scoring in Santa Clara, California for Ecuador; however, beyond his goal, his call-up with Ecuador’s National team has been a true case study.

Interestingly, the 22-year-old attacker was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the son of Ecuadorian parents who lived in New York. In addition, Sarmiento was trained as a footballer in England, where he was selected for the youth team throughout his time in the youth teams.