Mexico 1, Venezuela 1 | Copa America Centenario Match Recap

Franco Panizo

It may have taken a magical moment late in the game, but Mexico claimed Group C of the Copa America Centenario on Monday night in an even and entertaining affair.

Jesus Manuel Corona scored an 80th-minute equalizer and Mexico tied Venezuela, 1-1, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, in a battle of the top two teams in Group C. The result left Mexico and Venezuela even on points via identical 2-0-1 records, but El Tri took first place with a better goal differential of plus-four to the South Americans' plus-2.

In a group-stage finale between sides that had already qualified for the quarterfinals, Mexico found a late goal to stay unbeaten under head coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Corona netted on a brilliant dribbling effort that saw the talented attacker smoothly weave through a few defenders before smacking home a hard shot.

Venezuela had opened the scoring early in the showdown, with Jose Manuel Velazquez capping a well-worked free kick in the 10th minute with a picture-perfect scissor kick that could potentially be the goal of the tournament.

The two teams proceeded to exchange chances in the match, but the Mexicans ultimately found the goal they were looking for.

Box Score

10’ – VEN – Jose Manuel Velazquez (Christian Santos, Alejandro Guerra)
80’ – MEX – Jesus Manuel Corona (Miguel Layun)
Full box score
Stats

Three Things

PLENTY TO PLAY FOR: If you thought that this match would lack excitement because Mexico and Venezuela had qualified for the next round after just two games, you were mistaken. Both sides came out with energy from the start, and it was clear from their intensity levels that they wanted to finish atop Group C to avoid a likely meeting with Argentina in the next round. The byproduct of all that? Yet another very entertaining game in this tournament for neutrals to enjoy.
A FORMIDABLE FOE: Venezuela continued to show that they are a tough nut to crack, as they stood toe-to-toe with Mexico in this one. Sure, they benefited from Mexico's decision to rest starters, but the Venezuelans showed good things on both sides of the ball to nearly collect all three points.
STILL UNDEFEATED AND IMPRESSIVE: With the draw, Mexico failed to win for the first time in the 10 games played under Juan Carlos Osorio. Nonetheless, El Tri are still an unbeaten 9-0-1 under his guidance, outscoring their opponents 21-2 under the Colombian.