Venezuela qualified for the quarter-finals of the Copa America football by beating Mexico (1-0) on Wednesday in Inglewood (California), while Jamaica was eliminated by losing to Ecuador (3-1) in Las Vegas (Nevada).
A penalty, whistled for a clumsy tackle by the Mexican Julian Quinones on the Venezuelan Jon Aramburu, transformed by captain Salomon Rondon (34) in the 57th minute, allowed Venezuela to take the three points and secure the first place in group B even before the last day.
The coach of Venezuela, the Argentinian Fernando Batista, however praised the performance of goalkeeper Rafael Romo, who greatly contributed to his team’s success, notably by diverting a penalty from Mexican midfielder Orbelin Pineda at the end of the match.
“If Rafa has to be the man of the match in the next matches and we win, well let him be the man of the match!” commented Batista, while Romo had already played a leading role during the inaugural victory against Ecuador (2-1).
Earlier on Wednesday, in Las Vegas, Jamaica on the contrary said goodbye to the Copa America, failing to compete with Ecuadorians eager to recover after this setback against Venezuela.
Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapié opened the scoring in the 13th minute and “child prodigy” Kendry Paez converted a penalty in added time of the first half, becoming at 17 the second youngest scorer in history of the tournament.
West Ham striker Michael Antonio scored Jamaica’s only goal in the 54th minute, before Alan Minda sealed Ecuador’s victory moments before the final whistle.
Mexico and Ecuador will face each other on Sunday for second place in the group, also synonymous with a ticket to the quarter-finals.
