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Copa América Day 7: Venezuela surprises Mexico with game winning goal
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Follow along with GPB Sports' Jon Nelson for daily updates from Copa América, the international soccer tournament which returns to Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday, June 27 for a matchup between Panama and the United States.
Day 7: Backs against the wall
And it has nothing to do with the thoughts of some federations about playing on grass in stadia across the country.
If you're a fan of Mexico, they now face a "backs against the wall" situation after losing to Venezuela 1-0 in suburban Los Angeles. It's win or go home in their final group match day against Ecuador in a few day's time. But, they had chances and just couldn't convert any of them down a goal. It even included this penalty kick attempt by Orbelin Pineda.
Let's just say it didn't go well — thanks to our friends at FOX Soccer:
The Vinotinto (the national team for Venezuela) and El Tri mixed it up on the field when the match was over. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of the puffing out of chests and finger pointing at your opponent after matchday 2.
The first match of Day 7 was in Las Vegas and featured Ecuador taking care of Jamaica 3-1... An own goal in the 13th minute by the Reggae Boyz defense and a Kendry Paez penalty at the end of the first half gave Jamaica a big mountain to climb. But Michail Antonio registered a penalty conversion of his own and the match was on (your piece of trivia here- the Antonio goal was the first-ever scored by Jamaica in their Copa history). Alan Minda, however, would score in the 91st minute for the winning margin, 3-1.
THURSDAY: The US Men's national team starts Day 8 of competition at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 6p eastern kick against Panama.
USMNT midfielder Tim Weah has been impressed with Atlanta so far- involving and not involving soccer: "Atlanta is a progressive city," Weah says. "I think the training center is gonna be in a perfect place where all of us- we're all pretty much East Coast boys- so, you know, I see myself in the future kind of investing in Atlanta as well.
"Either, you know, getting land out here, building a house, so that my family could be close when I come back. It's not a bad call."
The other match on the day is back in New Jersey as Uruguay and Bolivia square off at 9 p.m. EDT. It's anticipated to be the second step before the two favorites (Uruguay and the US) collide to determine the top seed coming out of Group C in match day three.
Word of warning: If you're taking your own transportation to downtown Atlanta, get to the stadium early and be aware of road closures. Remember, with the U.S. presidential debate going on in Midtown Atlanta late into the evening, you'll have roadblocks, closures, and all the other related headaches you can imagine as you and 70,000 other futbol fans try to get home before next Monday night.
Day 6: A day of firsts
Canada and Peru had prepared us for a physical match in the 90-degree weather in Kansas City, where a linesman official collapsed from heat exhaustion and was taken off the field in a stretcher.
So much so that the Peruvian head coach said (paraphrasing) that if his players had to use their fists, they would use their fists. Obviously, you can't actually do that, but there were a few moments that leaned in that direction.
First, you had a head butt that only got a talking-to by the ref, courtesy of Fox Sports:
But, later you had this moment that forced Peru to play with ten:
And fifteen minutes later, Canada scored their first-ever goal in the Copa America. It would stand up, and in a must-win match to stay around for a chance at the knockout round, they got it. Final score: Canada beats Peru 1 - 0.
The nightcap was in front of a sellout crowd in New Jersey as Argentina squared off against Chile. Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was an absolute force between the sticks in trying to preserve the goalless draw. The 41-year-old made eight saves on the night- six from inside the 18-yard box. But, on a third successive corner by Argentina in the 88th minute, Lisandro Martinez slammed the ball home for the winning margin. Final score: Argentina beats Chile 1 - 0.
WEDNESDAY: The US Men's National Team will have a second morning of practice getting ready for Thursday's match with Panama at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. US Soccer presented Atlanta United keeper Brad Guzan a jersey for being the 641st different player to get an international call-up in the history of the program on Tuesday.
"It feels good to be in Atlanta," goalkeeper Matt Turner said after morning practice Tuesday. "I've played in MLS for a number of years and this is one of the away games you didn't really ever want to play- especially when they first came into the league. So, we know that the fan turn out at Mercedes-Benz for Atlanta United's really good and we're hoping to see some of that and feel that energy from the crowd on Thursday night.
"We saw that they had a pretty good turnout for the Argentina-Canada game, so we're hoping for some of the same for us."
On the field, Group B has Ecuador and Jamaica in the early match in Las Vegas and Venezuela playing Mexico in the night cap at SoFi Stadium in suburban Los Angeles.
How will El Tri respond to the Edson Alvarez injury?
We'll see later today.
Day 5: When a draw is like a win
Well, when you're Costa Rica going up against Brazil, that's the case.
The late match last night was a match that will NOT, under any circumstance, be kept in any kind of a television time capsule — unless you're a fan of Los Ticos.
At SoFi Stadium in suburban Los Angeles, Brazil was left frustrated and held scoreless in a match that will be remembered for how slanted it was in the stats column for Brazil. It will also be remembered for just how uninterested in having any kind of second half offense Costa Rica was.
Brazil almost had three times the amount of possession. They outshot Costa Rica 19 to 2. Costa Rica had 34 clearances on defense compared to 7 and the Brazil goalkeeper didn't have to make a save all night long.
But Costa Rica will feel like they won the World Cup and Brazil will be viewed through the troublesome prism of a team that is in transition from older players to younger ones and that is still trying to figure out who they are.
Brazil got CONCACAF'ed in a CONMEBOL tournament. Basically, that means you were shown every trick in the book to frustrate you and make you "not win" a match. If you know someone in downtown San Jose, give them a call. You may not be able to hear them over the shouting of holding mighty Brazil scoreless for 90 minutes.
In the first match of the day in Houston, the TV pictures showed that Colombia's fans came in some of the strongest numbers to date. Their counterparts from Paraguay were scattered throughout the building and were quite hard to find.
International star James Rodriguez starred in his 100th cap (Colombian national team appearance) for his home country and was showing the brilliance that has given his career homes like Porto (Portugal), Monaco (in the French league), Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. For fans, it was a flashback of what the 32-year-old, who now plays in Brazil, has meant when he has been healthy and in the right system. Colombia scored twice in a 10-minute span and held on for a 2-1 win.
Brighton's Julio Enciso scored with 20 minutes to go for Paraguay, but they couldn't get any closer. Former Atlanta United and current Newcastle attacker Miguel Almiron started for Paraguay, and logged a quiet 59 minutes before being removed.
TUESDAY: It's Matchday Two for Group A as Peru and Canada play at 6 p.m. EDT in suburban Kansas City and the nightcap at the Meadowlands in New Jersey as Argentina takes on Chile.
It was Lionel Messi's 37th birthday Monday, by the way, and fans serenaded him from outside his hotel room from the street level.
So, what does the Argentina squad do?
Let them eat cake! (Thanks to our friends at ESPN Deportes.)
I wonder how many fans actually ate their piece and how many froze it for posterity?
We'll see later today.
Copa América Day 4: Welcoming the United States to the Copa
It's a day where we'll work backwards again because Group C presents an early marker for the USA.
The nightcap was in suburban Miami as Uruguay and Paraguay played in front of a crowd slightly over 33,000. Coached by "El Loco," Marcelo Bielsa, Uruguay made a point to put a lot of pressure on their opponents — as is Bielsa's M.O. It paid off in the second half as the one goal scored in the first half was accompanied by two more for a late 3-0 lead.
Paraguay scored an, "Oh, by the way" goal late to bring the margin back to two and a 3-1. (That goal will become really important later in the story here.)
For the U.S., it was a chance to go up against one of the weaker teams in CONMEBOL in Bolivia. U.S. Men's Soccer captain and forward, Christian Pulisic put in an early header in the third minute for the quick lead Sunday night in front of a large crowd in suburban Dallas — the quickest-ever lead in team history.
Not to be outdone in the first 45 minutes, Folarin Balogun scored for the hosts to double the lead before the half. That would be the eventual final score as the U.S. improves to 6-0-0 at AT&T Stadium lifetime.
"He's a selfless leader," Berhalter told reporters about Pulisic after the match. "He goes out and he just competes and works really hard, and that helps the team. And then you add to the fact that he's highly skilled and he can make plays on the offensive end, it's a great combination."
"To me, it was an outstanding performance tonight."
Here are highlights, thanks to CONMEBOL, US Soccer, and Copa America.
Oh, the math!
Right now, after one match, Uruguay leads the group — on goals scored, the third tiebreaker. Both teams earned three points for their victories and have the same goal difference, but the three Uruguayan goals are one better than the red, white, and blue offense. All signs point to the last group match between these two to determine the top seed coming out of group play down the line.
TOMORROW: Group D kicks off their play in Houston at 6 p.m. EDT with Colombia and Paraguay followed by Brazil and Costa Rica at SoFi Stadium in suburban Los Angeles at 9 p.m. EDT.
We'll walk through it all together... Play it safe, everyone, I'll talk to you soon...
Copa América Day 3: When is a goal not a goal?
Apparently, in the Copa in Houston on Saturday, June 22.
Let’s work backwards ...
The night cap was in a fairly full NRG Stadium in Houston (53,763 in attendance) Saturday as Jamaica took on Mexico in front of an unsurprisingly, fairly-dominant, pro El Tri crowd...
There are concerns going forward as Mexico forward Edson Alvarez had to be removed from the match in the first half with a suspected hamstring injury. He was in tears as he was being helped off the turf by two team physios. The standard offensive problems continue to trouble Mexico and it looked like Jamaica went on the scoreboard first with a Michail Antonio header- but not so fast, my friends.
VAR pulls the goal back but Mexico would score a few minutes later. Gerardo Arteaga gave his side the lead and the eventual win.
The first match of the day was in Santa Clara, California as Ecuador and Venezuela kicked off Group B play. Ecuador’s Enner Valencia put his team at an early deficit with this play.
So, naturally, adding to the chaos, Ecuador’s Jeremy Sarmiento would score first giving his 10-man side a lead. It wouldn’t last, however, as Venezuela would finally take advantage of their man-advantage. Jhonder Cádiz and Eduard Bello, who came on at halftime, scored for Venezuela, giving La Vinotinto the 2-1 win.
SUNDAY: Two more matches at 6pm and 9pm eastern time from Group C
The first match involves the USA and their debut in the tournament against Bolivia — once again at AT&T Stadium in suburban Dallas. Uruguay and Panama finish the evening at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
“We've been speaking about this for a while and it's finally around the corner so we're all excited and we want to get to a good start,” USA midfielder Yunus Musah admits after the learning experience of the two friendlies that happened leading into Copa America. “Being really solid defensively and being really organized, we saw that it was difficult for Brazil to beat us so we see that as like a strength of us and we want to carry that on because that's what's going to help us.”
Copa América Day 2: Not at all like Day 1
For all the free-flowing futbol we saw on Day 1, Day 2 was nothing of the sort as Peru and Chile played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Dallas Friday, June 21. There's always a saying that you can't win (something) on the first day of (insert competition name here), but you certainly can lose it.
In looking a great deal like the Netherlands-France match earlier in the day in Euro2024 that was an uninspiring goalless draw, the solo match for the Copa America looked like both teams didn't want to completely fall out of consideration from finishing second in the group that involves Argentina. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stages. The third and fourth place teams go home.
A win gives you three points in group play. A draw means each team registers a point in the standings. A loss gives you nothing.
The center ref, Wilton Pereira Sampaio of Brazil, certainly enjoyed the sound of his own whistle in a match that lacked any kind of rhythm. He called 37 fouls and issued four yellow cards along the way. For Atlanta United fans, defender Luis Abram came in as a late-match substitute to help secure the point for his native Peru.
TOMORROW: There are two Copa America matches- Group B contests involving Ecuador and Venezuela at 6pm eastern from Santa Clara, California and Mexico and Jamaica in Houston, Texas at 9PM eastern.
But it goes a little bigger than that, courtesy of Jonathan Tannenwald of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Tomorrow is the American Soccer Summer Solstice," he wrote on X. "It’s the only day with #Euro2024 kicks off at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 3 p.m. ET and #CopaAmérica kickoffs at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Plus 14 MLS games, 2 #NWSL games, 9 USL Championship games, 3 USL League One games, and so on…"
Copa América Day 1: Argentina defeats Canada in Atlanta as crowd chants Lionel Messi's name
It was as close as you could get to an Argentina home match without actually being in Buenos Aires.
Argentina fans in their 80s watched their team for the first time in person, looking to meet Messi. Young fans wore Messi jerseys, wanting to meet the man who is considered to be one of the world's best soccer players. And then there were the fans who brought in posters, banners, and spray-art of the GOAT of the sport — they were all in attendance.
For the sellout crowd of just over 70,000 fans, the Thursday, June 20 Copa América game was all about Argentina.
Messi had two chances to score in the second half, where his team passed long and over-the-top of the Canadian backline: the first was a goal in the 65th minute that gave the crowd a 1v2 slaloming chase inside the 18; the second opportunity resulted in a tackle that dispossessed Messi inside the box from behind about 15 minutes later. The majority of fans wanted a penalty call on the second chance, but it wasn't considered.
Messi and Lautaro Martinez combined to break through the Canada press to score goal No. 2 in the 88th minute for the final margin. The win snapped a four match-opening game losing streak across Argentina's last four national team competitions.
Next up for the two teams are matches on Tuesday, June 25 when Argentina plays Chile at The Meadowlands in New Jersey and Canada travels to Kansas City to take on Peru.
Messi, with the start for Argentina, set a new record for appearances in the tournament with 35 (and counting, presumably).
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