Venezuela loss pushes Mexico to brink of early Copa America exit

El Tri are staring at an early exit despite a relatively easy group draw

Mexico’s Copa América hopes are already on the brink after a 1-0 defeat to Venezuela on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

El Tri began the Copa with an encouraging, yet damaging 1-0 win over Jamaica. Gerardo Arteaga’s late winner was exhilarating, but the victory also saw captain Edson Álvarez go down with a tournament-ending hamstring injury.

Still, there was a sense of optimism for Mexico heading into Wednesday’s game. In 13 games against Venezuela all time, Mexico had never lost, winning 10 of those matches.

Mexican newspaper Record ran a headline ahead of the game that put it succinctly: “Venezuela, I am your father.”

But nothing comes easy of late for this Mexico side, and so it proved again at SoFi Stadium.

The match came down to two penalties, one for each side.

Venezuela striker Salomón Rondón buried his spot kick in the 57th minute after Mexico forward Julián Quiñones had committed a silly foul in the box.

Mexico got a chance to equalize in the 87th minute after a Venezuela handball in the box, but goalkeeper Rafael Romo produced a stunning save on Orbelín Pineda to keep the score at 1-0.

Minutes later, the final whistle blew. La Vinotinto was though, and El Tri was on the verge of crashing out.

In response to the Record cover, Venezuela newspaper Meridiano justifiably took a victory lap the following day.

How can Mexico advance in Copa America?

Defeat to Venezuela leaves Mexico with a simple equation heading into Sunday’s group finale against Ecuador: win or go home.

After losing its opener to Venezuela, Ecuador bounced back with a 3-1 win over Jamaica on Wednesday.

Those results left Ecuador and Mexico level on three points, but Ecuador crucially has a plus-one goal differential while Mexico’s is at zero.

That gives La Tri the first tiebreaker over Mexico, meaning it only needs a tie to advance to the quarterfinals, while Mexico will require a win at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

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