Caracas. La Vinotinto lost on penalties once morest Canada and was unable to secure its second qualification to the semifinals of the Copa América, which this year will be played on U.S. soil until July 14.
The team led by Argentine Fernando Batista tied 1-1 once morest the Canadians in the 90 minutes and lost 4-3 in the penalty shoot-out.
The Venezuelans were unable to show their best side in regular time, in which they were disorganized for long periods of the match and were dominated by a very physical eleven, which lacked the aim to define the match before the tiebreaker.
All in all, the Creole team rounded off a more than acceptable Copa América, from which it says goodbye undefeated with the perfect score in the group stage for the first time in its history.
Discreet first half and improvement following the break
The first half was very discreet for Batista’s men. Anxiety seemed to get the better of a squad that left a lot of space when they retreated and conceded a goal following a throw-in.
Jacob Shaffelburg put Canada 1-0 up in the 13th minute with a shot from Rafa Romo’s left foot. From then on, Venezuela had more possession, but lacked clarity to really threaten goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau’s goal.
In the second half, the Vinotinto improved, more with grit than football, and got closer to the Canadian goal. The 1-1 came in the 64th minute with a goal from Salomón Rondón from almost 40 meters, which surprised the American goalkeeper in front.
After the equaliser, the national team was unable to maintain the same intensity. The team felt the wear and tear, lost possession and suffered greatly. From the bench, the coach’s changes seemed to focus more on penalties than on achieving an advantage.
In the shootout, Rondón, Tomás Rincón and Jhonder Cádiz scored for the Vinotinto, while for those of the Concacaf Jonathan David, Moise Bombito, Alphonso Davies and Ismael Koné were concreted.
Next objective
After the quarter-finals, Batista recalled that the World Cup qualifiers are the priority, although he admitted that the goal of playing all six Copa America matches was not achieved.
“We are leaving with the anger of not having lost a single match in the 90 minutes. I am proud of the players I have because they have had a ‘terrible’ Copa América. We had the hope and the dream of playing all six matches. The main objective for all of Venezuela is the qualifiers. We have to swallow our anger and think regarding what is coming,” said the coach.
La Vinotinto will return to the field in September to face Bolivia in the resumption of World Cup qualifiers.
#Vinotinto #play #game #quarterfinals #goodbye #undefeated #Copa #América
2024-07-06 19:51:27
