Venezuela edges out 10-man Ecuador in Copa America
Mexico defeats Jamaica, but may have lost their captain for the rest of the tourney
Jhonder Cadiz and Eduard Bello scored second-half goals after subbing on at halftime and Venezuela rallied for a 2-1 win over short-handed Ecuador on Saturday night in the opening round of group play at the Copa America.
Enner Valencia, who went into the tournament expected to lead Ecuador's attack, was shown a straight red card in the 22nd minute and Ecuador played a man down the rest of the way.
Ecuador, however, took a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute when Jeremy Sarmiento took advantage of a failed clearance of a free kick into the area by Kendry Paez.
Cadiz played a one-touch shot from 15-yards out to make it 1-1 in the 64th minute.
Bello scored on a putback from point-blank range to give Venezuela a 2-1 lead in the 74th minute. Alexander Gonzalez played an arcing entry from the right side to the center of the area and Salomon Rondon's diving header was parried by goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez and Bello took advantage.
Rondon returned to the starting lineup after scoring as a substitute in the team's last friendly match.
Ecuador, which entered the tournament ranked 30th in the FIFA rankings, plays Wednesday against Jamaica at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Venezuela, ranked 54th, plays Mexico on Wednesday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Venezuelan fans could be heard chanting, "Y va a car, y va a caer, este gobierno va a caer," which translates to "And it's going to fall, and it's going to fall, this government is going to fall." The chant comes ahead of the country's presidential election on July 28.
Ecuador lost for just the second time in its last 11 encounters against Venezuela in all competitions (4-2-5). The only other time Venezuela beat Ecuador at the Copa America was 1-0 in 2011.
Mexico 1, Jamaica 0
Mexico scraped out a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in their Group B opener in the Copa America, but their joy at making a winning start was tempered by what appeared to be a potentially tournament-ending injury to captain Edson Alvarez.
Alvarez collapsed clutching his hamstring in the 30th minute and limped off the pitch in tears.
Jamaica, who are ranked 38 places below Mexico, thought they had scored their first-ever Copa America goal when Michail Antonio headed into the net five minutes into the second half, but the goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant.
Mexico stepped up a gear after that scare, with Luis Chavez, Santiago Gimenez and Gerardo Arteaga all drawing fine saves from Jamaica keeper Jahmali Waite, before Arteaga finally broke the deadlock in the 69th minute with a thunderous strike.
The result moved Mexico level on three points with Venezuela.
