Copa América: Canada eliminates Venezuela on penalties and faces Argentina in the semi-finals

On Friday night (5), Canada secured qualification for the Copa América semi-finals. At the At&T Stadium, after a 1-1 draw against the home team in real time, the Canadian team beat Venezuela on penalties 4-3, and will now face Argentina in the next phase of the tournament.

Overall, the match was very lively, with both teams creating good chances and posing danger to the opposing goal, with Canada slightly dominating. In the 13th minute, David made a beautiful play and Shaffelburg opened the scoring. With the quartet of Laryea, David, Shaffelburg and Larin inspired, Canada wasted numerous chances to increase the score. Incredibly, all four missed chances one-on-one in the first half, while Soteldo tried to lead Venezuela into the attack with the help of Salomón Rondón.

In the second half, the action was more balanced and both teams had chances. Eduard Bello received a cross and shot first time, but saw the Canadian goalkeeper make a great save. Soon after, Venezuela equalized. After a long kick from the defense, the ball fell to Rondón in midfield, who beat the defender and shot from distance, over the top, to score a great goal at the At&T Stadium.

After the Venezuelan equalizer, Millar, twice, and David had chances to break the tie, but they finished poorly. Johnston, Ali Ahmed and Koné also came close to scoring, but they were all ineffective and did not break the tie.

In the penalty shootout, both teams missed good chances and the team that made the fewest mistakes won: Herrera, Savarino and Ángel missed for Venezuela, while only Millar and Eustaquio missed for the Canadians. The standout was goalkeeper Crépeau, who saved two penalties. Thus, Canada won 4-3 and now faces Argentina, who in the penalty shootout, after a 1-1 draw in normal time, eliminated Ecuador and secured a place among the four best teams in the Copa América.