3️⃣ things we learned as Copa América Group B takes shape | OneFootball

Copa América Group B continues to heat up as Venezuela picked up their second win, and Ecuador earned their first three points of the tournament.

Here is what we made of the events in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Referees are the real stars

The two Group B fixtures were packed with drama, but unfortunately the bulk of it was produced by the men with the whistles.

In the opening game of the evening, Jamaica felt hard done by when they weren’t given a penalty-kick for what they believed was a similar hand-ball to what saw Ecuador given a penalty earlier in the game.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, each team was awarded a penalty-kick after lengthy VAR reviews, though Venezuela was the only side to convert theirs of the two.

Scuffles broke out in both games, putting on full display just how much the referees failed to control the games, but we’ve come to expect that in fixtures involving CONMEBOL and CONCACAF.

There has been plenty to write and speak about through the first 12 games of the tournament, but lets hope its the quality of the players that shines through in the coming weeks, and not the color of cards being brandished.

Missing quality where it matters

Goalscoring was always going to be Mexico’s issue heading into the tournament. Santi Giménez’s club form has been red-hot, but the Feyenoord man has yet to translate that form to international football.

The absence of Edson Álvarez does not help, but Mexico still managed to fire 18 shots towards the Venezuelan goal. Some of those chances came in the dying minutes, but when the ball is falling to the likes of Carlos Rodríguez, Orbelín Pineda, and Cesar Huerta with the game on the line instead of the forwards of the previous generation, the quality was just not there.

The pressure is well and truly on Jaime Lozano, who was already under fire before the tournament. A round three showdown with Ecuador could be the defining moment for many players in this generation of El Tri.

Jeremy Sarmiento is one to watch

The Ipswich man, on loan from Brighton, has quickly pinged the radar of many football fans after his performance against Jamaica Wednesday evening.

You could hardly take your eyes off Sarmiento whenever he had the ball at his feet, cutting through the Jamaican midfield and defence, remaining a danger at all times.

The winger was given a raucous ovation when his number showed on the fourth official’s board to be subbed off, and rightly so. Sarmiento will be one to watch throughout the tournament if Ecuador can find a way out of Group B. And if they do, he will likely be the catalyst.