Mexico had many scoring opportunities for much of the second half but was unable to score a goal to defeat Ecuador in the Copa America 2024 match between the two teams at State Farm Stadium on Sunday.
The final score was 0-0 and Ecuador, thanks to a standings tiebreaker, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa America, where it will face Argentina, winner of Group A, on July 4 in Houston. In another disappointment for its national team, Mexico was sent home.
The crowd of 62,656, mostly pro-Mexican, begged “El Tri” to find a goal in the second half, and Mexico came close on several occasions, including one time when no penalty kick was called after what appeared to be a takedown in the Ecuador box. It also looked like there was a handball or at least a close call for one in stoppage time that would have given Mexico a penalty kick.
But the most important moment in which Mexico came close to a goal came in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time when the referee called a foul on Ecuadorian defender Felix Torres in the box and awarded a penalty kick to Mexico. That decision was reviewed on video and overturned when replays showed Torres touched the ball before sweeping it off the leg of Mexican forward Guillermo Martínez.
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“It’s officiating, right?” Mexico head coach Jaime Lozano said in Spanish afterward. “I didn’t like it very much. I guess the officiating and VAR (video reviews) weren’t enough.”
Lozano was satisfied with the defensive performance of his team and that of his players, even though Mexico scored only one goal in three Copa America games.
“I liked what I saw, even if the results weren’t there,” he said. “We have to keep working on the offensive part because we needed goals.”
Ecuador, fighting for time and having only a few good scoring opportunities, managed to survive the final moments and win.
“After one game (in Copa America) with so many things against us, we turned things around to qualify. It was really hard but we’re very satisfied with this step we took,” said Ecuador head coach Felix Sanchez, who then addressed facing Argentina and its roster of stars next.
“It’s another final, every game has been a final, and we now look forward to facing the best team in the world.”
The next Copa America match at State Farm Stadium is a quarterfinal that will most likely feature two of these teams: Colombia, Brazil, Panama or the United States.
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