0-03-0！ Copa America upset: Caicedo tough Messi Mexico out of Venezuela three in a row
Copa America huge upset: Caicedo tough Messi, Mexico out, Venezuela won consecutive wins to win the group
The third round of the Copa America group stage staged a shocking upset. The generally favored Mexican team drew 0-0 with Ecuador, which seemed to be weaker than itself, in Group B, and lost the tournament, while Venezuela, who are also in Group C, easily won three consecutive group stage victories and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, where they met Canada in the quarterfinals. In the other game of Group B, Jamaica lost 3-0 to Venezuela and announced their elimination early.
The result of this group stage of ice and fire undoubtedly surprised all fans. As a veteran powerhouse in North and Central America, the Mexican team has many strong stars, but it fell completely passive in the competition with the average Ecuador team, and finally fell short. The Venezuelan team, which is widely considered to be weak, not only won a comfortable 3-0 victory against the equally strong Jamaican team, but also topped the Group C group with a proud record of three consecutive wins, becoming a dark horse in this Copa America.
The result of all this will have a profound impact on the entire Copa America pattern. We can't help but ask, is this a big upset or a big surprise? Will the rise of an underdog team set off a huge subversive storm and rewrite the direction of the entire Copa America? Let's find out the mystery.
Mexico team struggled to beat Ecuador's "Mr. 100 million"
As pointed out in the pre-match analysis, this Group B battle will largely determine the qualification place in the group. The Mexican team, which has the advantage in strength, faced the Ecuador team with the same three points, and should have taken advantage of the victory to chase and easily win the opponent, but the result was unexpected.
Mexico is home to some of Europe's top clubs and is worth 100 million euros. And their opponent, Ecuador, although ranked slightly lower in the world than Mexico, has a big star worth 100 million yuan - Caicedo. This player is not only called Ecuador's "first brother" in terms of strength, but also gave full play to his energy in the game, which undoubtedly became the key to a big upset.
In the first half, the two teams were at a close end, and it was difficult to distinguish between them. Ecuador organized several attacks to threaten the Mexican portal thanks to Caicedo's excellent play, but in the end they failed to break through. Mexico also had some good counter-attacking opportunities, but they were lackluster in attack and failed to take control of the game.
In the second half, neither side had much offensive momentum, and more focused on controlling the field. Just when the two sides were evenly matched, Caicedo suddenly scored with a long-range shot from outside the penalty area. This attack also made people feel the strong strength of this "Mr. 100 million yuan". However, in the end, the two teams were unable to make the slightest progress, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw, and Mexico did not qualify from the group.
Facing an opponent of equal quality, the Mexican team clearly did not play at the level it should have. They were lacklustre in attack and struggled to completely contain Ecuador's attack in defence. In particular, star players like Caicedo have made the Mexican defense passive. The result of this game also exposed some weaknesses and deficiencies of the Mexican team. After all, they have not fully entered the best condition, and they failed to show their due strength at critical moments, and finally they could not escape the fate of elimination.
Ecuador could only draw with Mexico in the end, but they still secured second place in the group and will face defending champions Argentina in the quarter-finals. And Caicedo, the "Mr. 100 million yuan", will also have the opportunity to compete with the Balkan king Messi in this competition. This will undoubtedly be a highlight in this top 8 battle.
Venezuela rising: Group C dark horses successfully qualified
At the same time, the competition of the other group is equally exciting. In Group C, Venezuela advanced to the last eight as group winners after a stellar performance of three consecutive wins. The team's winning streak in the group stage, which is considered to be relatively weak, is undoubtedly shocking.
In stark contrast to Mexico's disappointment, Venezuela's rise was undoubtedly one of the highlights of this Copa America. They beat a strong Jamaican side in the group stage before comfortably beating fellow Group C opponents. The overall strength and unity and fighting spirit of this team have been fully demonstrated in the competition many times.
The first half was a stalemate between the two teams, with Venezuela dominating the field but not making much progress on the attacking end. The game took a turn in the second half when Venezuela finally broke the deadlock in the 49th minute when Belho headed home the door to victory. Venezuela's attack then intensified, with goals from Jan Herrera and Eric Ramirez to secure top spot in the group with a 3-0 thrashing of Jamaica.
It is worth mentioning that Rondon, the all-time top scorer of the Venezuelan team, scored another goal in this game, tying Dolguetta's record and becoming the player with the most goals in team history. The player's excellent performance also added a lot of firepower to the Venezuelan team's attack.
The outstanding performance of the Venezuelan team this time has not been favored by the outside world at all. In fact, in the pre-Copa America predictions, they are often considered to be the underdogs in Group C and will struggle to do well in the group stage. But the reality is completely unexpected, and this team is not only in the group
Continuing from the above, we will continue to discuss the huge upsets and surprises of the America's Cup.
The rise of the "dark horse" of the Venezuelan team is undoubtedly a highlight of this Copa America. They beat Jamaica and Ecuador in the group stage to advance to the last eight as group winners. With its excellent overall strength and spirit of unity and hard work, this team completely subverted the expectations of the outside world and became a dark horse in this America's Cup.
In the other group, Mexico's unexpected defeat was even more shocking. As an old powerhouse in North and Central America, they were unable to defeat Ecuador in the group stage and were ultimately eliminated. This team has many stars from European giants, but it is unable to show its due strength at critical moments, exposing some obvious shortcomings.
These results will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the entire Copa America landscape. Weaker teams have been upset one after another, subverting the original expectations and injecting confidence into more weak teams. It remains to be seen whether the dark horse team represented by the Venezuelan team can continue to create surprises in the knockout round. And the unexpected loss of a top team like Mexico also provides some inspiration and opportunities for other teams.
That's the beauty of the America's Cup. Unlike the European Championship or the World Cup, this event has always been considered to be a relatively fixed strength, and the championship suspense is not large. However, some unexpected results of this tournament have undoubtedly broken this stereotype and brought the whole event to life.
The next knockout stage will be even more exciting. We can hope that the less powerful teams will continue to create more upsets and set off a huge disruptive storm. Whether the old powerhouses can take this opportunity to reinvigorate themselves and reshape their image as kings will also become the focus of attention.
All in all, the Copa America has shown unprecedented drama and uncertainty. The rise of the weak team and the defeat of the strong team undoubtedly made the whole event full of suspense and adventure. We will surely witness more impressive results in the next races. The charm of the America's Cup is showing up in front of us little by little.