Jesús “Tecatito” Corona produced a wonderful individual goal to tie the Copa América Centenario game between Mexico and Venezuela, with 10 minutes remaining. During the play, he ran right by five Venezuelan defenders. When he reached the top of the box, three defenders surrounded Corona, but he was able to elude them all and fire in a low shot that gave the goalkeeper no chance.
The draw made Mexico the winners of Group C, meaning they’ll play the runner-up of Group D in the quarter-finals, which is most likely to be Chile but could be Panama. To say he saved Mexico’s tournament may be a bit of a stretch, but if you saw what Messi did to Panama, you know that’s a matchup any team would prefer to avoid. In fact, Mexico and Argentina now can’t meet until the final.
Venezuela did well most of the game and earned the lead with one of the great goals of the tournament.
The equalizer felt inevitable, and the crowd seemed to feel it coming when Chicharito made his entrance to play the last 25 minutes.
Had Corona not come through when he did, the post-game discussion might have revolved around a controversial decision by the referee to not award Mexico a penalty in the first half. Si era penal, but at least the mistake didn’t have a material effect on the group standings. Hopefully Copa América refs can tighten up, because there’s been entirely too many mistakes in the group stage of the tournament.
Nevertheless, Tecatito impressed.
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If you’re a Copa América fan in NYC, be sure to RSVP for Remezcla’s ultimate Copa America pre-final party on June 25th. RSVP here for entry.