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Venezuela stunned the world as they defeated Colombia 1-0 in the opening game of Copa America’s Group C. Colombia, who are ranked 4th in the world on the FIFA world rankings, failed to live up to the expectations placed on them heading into the game against a team that is 72nd on the FIFA rankings.
A strong Colombian side were dominated by the Venezuelans for the vast majority of the game, a thoroughly deserved victory for the outsiders.
The game got off to a slow start with few chances for either side. First Venezuela created the best chance of the first half when Juan Arango sent a through ball into the path of Ronald Vargas, but his effort was denied by David Ospina.
Colombian captain Radamel Falcao had his first sighting on goal on the half hour mark when his effort to lob Alain Baroja failed as the ball sailed over the bar.
Colombia showed signs of life at the beginning of the second half after James Rodriguez came close to opening the scoring.
But Venezuela continued their impressive display, striker Salomon Rondon hitting the crossbar with a header before being penalized for a foul on Murillo.
Venezuela took the lead minutes later as Juan Arango found Guerra unmarked at the back post, heading the ball to Rondon, who guided his header into the bottom corner.
Colombia brought Edwin Cardona off the bench, and he nearly found the equalizer for Colombia from a free kick but his effort was went just wide of the post.
Colombian pressed for an equalizer late on, James Rodriguez testing Baroja with a powerful strike from 20 yards. However, Colombia’s best chance of the game fell to Cristian Zapata, the defender evaded the Venezuelan defense from a corner but failed to direct a knock down into the back of the net from yards out.
It was a disappointing performance and result for Jose Pekerman’s side, and they now need a result against Group C favorites Brazil in their next fixture on Wednesday.
On the other hand, Venezuela will be delighted with the performance and result. Their work rate throughout was impressive, along with some solid defending to keep out the attacking threat of Colombia.