The selection of Ecuador recovered from the defeat in its debut this Wednesday and beat Jamaica 3-1 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (Nevada) to relaunch itself in group B of the Copa América and send a clear message to Mexico and Venezuela, with whom it is fighting for a place in the quarterfinals: La Tri is alive.
And Kasey Palmer own goalthe first of this edition of the Copa América and caused by a cross from Piero Hincapié, a penalty goal and a record of Kendry Páez, youngest scorer in this tournament in the 21st century (17 years and 53 days) and a goal on the counterattack of Alan Mind They gave three gold points to Ecuador.
La Tri has three points in group B, the same as Venezuela and Mexico, who face each other this Wednesday in their match on the second day, while Jamaicaalthough not yet officially, says goodbye to this Copa América.
Anger becomes motivation
The defeat against Venezuela hurt Tri’s pride. He fell with honor despite playing more than 70 minutes with ten men, but the criticism received by those around him was echoed. This was forcefully reflected by Carlos Gruezo the day before, when he assured that people were waiting for “the slightest mistake to finish killing” the team.
And the players had the ability to turn that anger into extra motivation. From the first minute. Sánchez gave a clear signal by confirming the eleven that he lost against Vinotinto, except evidently the suspended Enner Valencia, replaced by Kevin Rodríguez. La Tri took to the Allegiant Stadium field, with a roof and air conditioning, to dominate. And they took a double advantage at halftime, controlling the game and responding to the physical match put forward by Jamaica, also against the ropes after their opening defeat against Venezuela.
Jeremy Sarmiento gave class details. The English Brighton player has plenty of spark and talent and he showed it by asking for the ball, trying plays and involving his teammates. But in that control of Ecuador it was a casual play to open the can. In the 13th minute, Hincapié, close to the left wing, hit a cross that, deflected by Kasey Palmer, surprised the goalkeeper. Jamaica, locked up until that moment, tried to leave its field, but created few problems for the Tri defense. The physical play of Hallgrimsson’s team also caused many protests in La Tri and sparks even flew between Hincapié, Michail Antonio and Damion Lowe.
Páez, a record goal
The game got stuck and that’s why it was even more important Kendry Páez’s 2-0, scored from the penalty spot on the brink of half-time after the lengthy VAR review for a hand touch in the Jamaican area. The Ecuadorian midfielder did not miss his date with history, he crossed the shot and went up 2-0 to the scoreboard.
What seemed like a match under control became complicated for La Tri during the restart. Demarai Gray entered for Jamaica and Antonio took advantage of a rebound in the penalty area to score Jamaica’s first goal. He gave confidence to the Reggae Boyz and Ecuador, who already felt they had three points, struggled to mentally get back into the game. Félix Sánchez’s team was scared. And he spent almost three minutes of apnea when, in the 73rd minute, the referee reviewed on the screen at the foot of the field a possible touch with Alan Franco’s hand in the area. Finally, the Chilean Cristian Garay did not blow the maximum penalty.
It was the last scare of the match for La Tri, who sealed their victory in the 91st minute, when Minda made a spectacular personal move on the counterattack and scored with his right foot, after running 50 meters down the field, the goal that gave the final score 3-1. La Tri has woken up and is in control of its destiny. A victory against Mexico will give them a pass to the quarterfinals.
Datasheet
3. Ecuador: Alexander Dominguez; Precious Angelo, Felix Torres, Willian Pacho, Piero Hincapie; Moses Caicedo, Alan Franco, Jeremy Sarmiento (Janner Corozo, m.95), John Yeboah (Alan Minda, m.64), Kendry Paez (Carlos Gruezo, m.88) and Kevin Rodriguez (Jordy Caicedo, m.88). Selector: Felix Sanchez.
1. Jamaica: Jahmali Waite; Di’Shon Bernard (Michael Hector, m.46), Joel Latibeaudiere (Karoy Anderson, m.88), Damion Lowe (Demarai Gray, m.46), Ethan Pinnock; Dexter Lembikisa (Renaldo Cephas, m.94), Greg Leigh, Bobby Reid, Shamar Nicholson (Dixon, m.83), Kasey Palmer; y Michail Antonio. Selector: Heimir Hallgrimsson.
Goals: 1-0, m.12: Hincapié; 2-0, m.45: Páez (penalty); 2-1, m.54: Antonio; 3-1, m.89: Minda.
Referee: Cristian Garay (CHI). He showed yellow card to Lowe (m.39), Hector (m.49), Latibeaudiere (m.80) and Anderson, from Jamaica.
incidences: Match corresponding to the second day of group B of the Copa América played at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (Nevada) before 24,074 spectators.
2024-06-27 03:10:57
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