Ismael Kone despatched Canada to their first Copa America semi-final as they overcame Venezuela 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 attract Texas.
Jacob Shaffelburg opened the scoring for Canada, just for Salomon Rondon to internet a surprising long-range equaliser to take the quarter-final the gap.
With 32 photographs shared between the 2 sides, penalties would determine who would face Argentina on the MetLife Stadium subsequent week.
The decisive miss got here from Wilker Angel, with Kone’s stuttering run up permitting him to coolly slot the ball past Rafael Romo to see Canada develop into the fourth CONCACAF group to succeed in the semi-finals of the competitors.
Regardless of the nerves of enjoying of their first-ever knockout fixture on the Copa America, it was Canada who would strike the early blow within the contest.
Having seen appeals for a penalty waved away moments earlier, Shaffelburg dusted himself all the way down to open the scoring, squeezing house Jonathan David’s cross on the close to publish within the thirteenth minute.
Jesse Marsch’s facet had alternatives to double their benefit, as Shaffelburg noticed his effort saved whereas David fluffed his strains with solely Romo to beat as a pulsating first half got here to a detailed.
Canada’s dominance continued after the break however Cyle Larin was unable to hit the goal, and their wastefulness in entrance of aim was punished spectacularly.
A protracted ball up entrance noticed Rondon win a tussle with Moise Bombito, taking goal from simply contained in the Canada half to lob Maxime Crepeau for a aim of the match contender.
David continued to threaten for Canada, chipping the ball in behind for Tani Oluwaseyi who might solely discover the roof of the online within the ultimate probability of regular time.
Either side would miss two spot-kicks because the encounter reached sudden dying, however Angel noticed his effort saved by Crepeau, handing the accountability over to Kone, who clinched a landmark victory for Marsch’s facet.
A SEMI-FINAL BERTH IN OUR FIRST EVER COPA AMÉRICA!!!! WE JUST DID THAT! //#CANMNT #NoFearAllFight pic.twitter.com/dz4wPFnkW7
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) July 6, 2024
Venezuela’s younger weapons will be pleased with their efforts
Fernando Batista can depend his group unfortunate following their gut-wrenching exit from the match, however his younger squad can take pleasure of their performances on the match.
Venezuela battled an onslaught of Canada strain, however fought again with their very own attacking abilities, with Rondon’s strike their fourth consecutive aim on the Copa America, their longest run of video games with a aim within the competitors since a run of 5 video games in June 2015.
Nevertheless, hopes of reaching a primary Copa America semi-final since 2011 had been dashed.
However, Venezuela can depart the match with their heads held excessive, having equalled their highest aim tally (seven) in a single version of the competitors.
Canada by way of, however should enhance in entrance of aim
Marsch mentioned he needed to construct one thing particular with Canada, and his facet’s run within the Copa America has proven they’ve the power to take action forward of the 2026 World Cup.
Canada began brightly by way of Shaffelburg’s early strike, with all three of his worldwide strikes coming in knockout matches. Nevertheless, it ought to have been extra.
From their 16 photographs on aim, solely seven had been heading in the right direction, with 12 of their efforts coming contained in the field. Marsch’s facet underperformed their anticipated objectives (xG) by 0.84, and had 4 complete huge probabilities in comparison with Venezuela’s 0.
Regardless of these underlying statistics, Canada will likely be hopeful of retaining their fairytale run within the competitors alive in opposition to Argentina, who they misplaced to within the group stage of the competitors.
