Venezuela rejoiced with a perfect 1st leg in the Copa America

Venezuela made history and secured their place in the quarter-finals this Sunday (30) and topped Group B with a 100% campaign with a 3-0 win over Jamaica and will face Canada in the semi-finals. Copa America-2024.

With that, the Venezuelans avoided facing Argentina in the quarter-finals, which will fall to second-placed Ecuador in the group after holding Mexico to a draw on Sunday (0-0).

Goals that brought 20,000 spectators to their feet at the Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, almost full of ‘Vinotinto’ fans, were scored in the second half by Edward Bello (48′), Salomon Rondon (56′) and Eric Ramirez. (85′).

Venezuela was led by Leandro Gufre, who replaced coach Fernando Bautista with the suspended Conmebol.

“Finishing with a perfect score for the first time in history (…) we are happy, we are happy, but we have not yet achieved any objective, but we are following this path”, Gufre said.

This is the first time that a Venezuelan team has advanced to the quarter-finals of a continental tournament with three wins.

“We have already played three games; There are three more to go,” Rondon told Venezuelan television channel Televen, referring to his ambition to reach the finals, an unprecedented feat in the tournament’s history.

“It will be more complicated than the group stage. We are already thinking about Canada.

Vinodinto’s best participation in the Copa America was recorded in Argentina-2011, where he reached the semi-finals and finished fourth.

“I appreciate the good moment we’re having as a team,” the striker said.

This Sunday, 34-year-old Salomon Rondon joined the late striker Jose Luis Tolqueta as Venezuela’s top scorer at the Copa America, scoring his sixth goal in his fifth appearance in the world’s oldest national team competition.

Venezuela will face Canada, who are second behind Argentina in Group A, on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.