Copa America Centenario
Venezuela and Mexico through, Uruguay out
(FIFA.com)
© AFP
With two wins apiece in Group C, the pair will fight it out for top spot in the section in Houston next Monday. In tumbling out of the competition with the Jamaicans, 15-time champions Uruguay suffered their first group-phase elimination since Bolivia 1997.
FIFA.com looks back at the action from day six of the competition.
The day’s results
Uruguay 0-1 Venezuela
Mexico 2-0 Jamaica
The analysis
A simple but effective gameplan and some opportunistic finishing from Salomon Rondon saw Venezuela post a narrow win over Uruguay and clinch a last-eight place for the third time in their four latest attempts.
La Vinotinto owed their first Copa America defeat of La Celeste in nine attempts to Rondon’s tap-in from close range, which came about when Fernando Muslera tipped Alejandro Guerra’s spectacular 50-yard drive onto the bar, with the ball falling conveniently for the striker to prod home.
Forced into a reaction, a nervy Uruguay side threw men forward. Lacking in ideas, however, they created just the one clear-cut opportunity, which Edinson Cavani somehow contrived to miss. Content to hit on the break, the Venezuelans passed up several chances to kill the game off, not that it mattered in the end.
Mexico’s subsequent win over Jamaica clinched a place for both them and La Vinotinto in the knockout phase, while ensuring Uruguay’s elimination. Javier Hernandez struck early to move to within one goal of equalling Jared Borgetti as El Tri’s all-time highest goalscorer.
After surviving the odd scare at the back, the Mexicans sealed all three points late on thanks to Oribe Peralta’s 81st-minute strike, as they atoned for their group-phase exits at Argentina 2011 and Chile 2015.
Highlight of the day
In making his 113th appearance for Uruguay in the defeat to Venezuela, Maximiliano Pereira moved past Diego Forlan as the country’s most capped player. The right-back, who turned 32 on Wednesday, also holds the national record for Copa America appearances, having now run out 17 times for La Celeste at four tournaments since 2007 and forming part of the title-winning side of 2011.
The stat
9 - Juan Carlos Osorio chalked up his ninth win in nine matches as Mexico coach, a sequence during which his side have scored 19 goals and let in one, that coming in their Group C opener against Uruguay.
Thursday’s victory over Jamaica also took El Tri’s unbeaten run to 21, equalling the team’s all-time record, set under Ricardo La Volpe between 2004 and 2005. Mexico’s last defeat was a 2-1 reverse at the hands of Ecuador in the group phase at the 2015 Copa America, since when they have recorded 15 wins and six draws under three different coaches: Miguel Herrera (in charge for eight of them) Ricardo Ferretti (in charge for four) and now Osorio.
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