Venezuela defeated Ecuador 2-1 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 29,864 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. An early red card would bring Ecuador down to 10 men, but against the odds, they were first to score thanks to Jeremy Sarmiento. Two second half goals by Jhonder Cádiz and Eduard Bello would up-end Ecuador’s momentum and seal the win for Venezuela. It was their first comeback win in the history of Copa América.
An event that sent shockwaves through the stadium was the early red card given to Ecuador’s captain and leading goalscorer Enner Valencia. When trying to pounce on a second chance from a goalkeeper deflection, Valencia missed his attempt on the ball and went studs up into his defender’s chest. His initial yellow card was changed to red after a VAR decision. Ecuador would be down a player for the next 68 minutes.
With the odds stacked against them, Ecuador was able to strike first to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute. Jeremy Sarmiento was in the right place at the right time and found the end of a bouncing ball at the top of the box and sent a ground ball past the goalkeeper.
Ecuador’s first half momentum carried into the second and continued to pressure Venezuela’s defense. But after a pair of substitutions, Fernando Batista’s men started to gel and applied pressure of their own.
In the 65th minute, Jhonder Cádiz canceled Ecuador’s early lead after beating the keeper off a throw-in. A long throw-in entered the box and found the feet of Eduard Bello. He passed the ball back on his first touch to Cádiz who one-timed a shot to the keeper’s near side.
Almost 10 minutes later, Bello would find himself on the scoring side of the action after he poached a ball off the keeper. Alexander Gonzalez sent a beauty of a cross from long-range into the box. Salomón Rondón positioned himself just right and headed the ball on frame. Alexander Dominguez deflected the header but the ball was still in play. Once the ball got away, Bello sprinted towards goal and beat the keeper to his near side.
The match was a good tactical victory for Venezuela and their coach Fernando Batista. His changes at halftime made the difference in the match. “I think that he (Batista) was better than me,” said Felix Sanchez Bas in the post-match press conference. “He won.”
After the last two Copa América matches were marred by comments post-match about poor pitch conditions, Felix Sanchez Bas put those concerns to bed. “By playing with one man down for so many minutes, that created some particular conditions,” he began. “But I saw the pitch in good condition today. The turf was good for playing football.”
Ecuador will be without their star man and lead goalscorer Enner Valencia for at least one match — which means Bas and Co. will need an entirely new gameplan against Jamaica. They’ll travel to Las Vegas to face The Reggae Boyz on Wednesday, June 26 while Venezuela will hang on to its momentum and take that to Los Angeles to face Mexico (also on June 26).
-Jon Jones
Photos: James Lyons