The Venezuelan National Team advanced as leader of group B of the Copa América with full points for the first time in its history, by beating Jamaica 2-0 this Sunday in Austin (Texas) after its previous triumphs against Ecuador and Mexico. and avoided Argentina to meet Canada in the quarterfinals.

The Venezuelan National Team beat Jamaica 3-0 and sealed its place in the quarterfinals with three wins in three games. AP Photo/Eric Gay
The goals of Eduard Bello, Salomón Rondón and Eric Ramírez launched the selection of Argentine Fernando Batista, suspended and replaced at the Q2 Stadium in Austin by his assistant Leandro Cufré, on an afternoon in which the only negative news was the yellow card seen by Darwin Machis, who will miss the quarterfinals.

The Vinotinto’s trip, supported in Austin by almost 20,000 fans in the stadium, will now take them to AT&T Stadium in Arlington (Texas) for the quarterfinals against Canada, second behind Argentina in group A.

Venezuela dominated its group and finished with nine points. Jamaica, which arrived at this event already eliminated, came fourth.

Machís misses the duel against Canada

Vinotinto had four players warned of sanctions (Machís, Christian Cásseres, Nahuel Ferraresi and Miguel Navarro) to reach the match with Jamaica and ‘Bocha’ Batista only fielded one starter, Darwin Machís.

The winger made a serious mistake after nine minutes. He committed a hard foul on Joel Latibeadiere that could have even cost him the red card. Finally, the Italian referee showed him yellow, which will prevent him from competing against Canada.

It was the only drawback of the afternoon for Venezuela, which played “at home” in Austin, in a wine-colored stadium, and had a feast in the second half after the goalless draw in the first half.

Vinotinto Festival

Machís shook the rival defense with his change of pace and was able to put Vinotinto ahead on the brink of half-time with a cross from the left wing that almost surprised the goalkeeper, the protagonist with a worthy intervention to get the ball out of the goal. squad.

But it was just a matter of waiting for Venezuela. Four minutes after the restart, Jon Aramburu hit a perfect cross from the left wing that Bello took advantage of to free himself from Ethan Pinnoch’s mark and head in to make it 1-0.

Vinotinto was released from the tension and seven minutes later came the blow to the table by Salomón Rondón, who struck down the goalkeeper after receiving a good pass into the hole from Yangel Herrera. The Gladiator celebrated his second goal in this Copa América and left Jamaica shocked.

Rondón, forward for Pachuca, has 43 goals for Venezuela in 106 games and is his team’s top scorer. When he scores, his team triumphs. This has happened in the last 16 precedents.

Everything works for Venezuela. The Gladiator retired in the 81st minute, replaced by Eric Ramírez, and received a long ovation from the public. Less than four minutes later, he faced the goalkeeper in a one-on-one after a great assist from Kervin Andrade and beat him to make it 3-0.

The Q2 Stadium duel ended in a festive atmosphere for a Vinotinto that does not set limits.