LAS VEGAS — Ecuador kept their hopes of qualifying for the Copa America quarter-finals alive with a 3-1 win over Jamaica in Las Vegas on Wednesday that ultimately eliminated the 'Reggae Boyz.'
Ecuador went ahead in the 13th minute via a Jamaica own goal, when Piero Hincapie's cross from the left was deflected off Kasey Palmer's shin into the net.
Jamaica own goal vs Ecuador
OH MY GOODNESS
An assistant referee keeled over and fainted in the first half of Peru's Copa America Group A match against Canada, being played in hot and humid conditions at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City on Tuesday.
Humberto Panjoj collapsed during stoppage time in the first half, with Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau attracting the attention of medical staff.
Referee passes out during Copa América game
LOS ANGELES — Brazil missed a string of chances and were left to rue a lack of quality in the final third after they were held 0-0 by Costa Rica in their Copa America Group D opener in Los Angeles on Monday.
Brazil, who came into the Copa America on the back of a run of poor results in recent months, dominated possession but lacked precision in front of goal with just three of their 19 shots on target.
Maximilian Araujo, Darwin Nunez and Matias Vina scored as Uruguay beat Panama 3-1 in their Copa América Group C match in Florida on Sunday.
Uruguay, who have won the Copa America a joint record 15 times, were rewarded for their blistering early pace when Araujo fired home a sublime curling effort from the edge of the area in the 16th minute.
WHAT A GOAL
Uruguay takes the lead off this STUNNER from Maximiliano Araújo pic.twitter.com/zlecaGpYej
ATLANTA — Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Argentina should be fined after the defending champions emerged late from the dressing room for the second half in their Copa América opener on Thursday.
After the first half ended goalless, Argentina opened the scoring four minutes after the restart through Julian Alvarez while Lautaro Martinez scored a late goal in a 2-0 win.
Argentina emerged for the second period around five minutes after Canada.
Jesse Marsch Argentina complaint
Argentina’s 2-0 victory vs. Canada on Thursday in Copa América wasn’t smooth sailing. It literally wasn’t smooth because the Mercedes-Benz Stadium grass put in place caused issues for both teams.
Members of Argentina and Canada said that the grass put in place wasn’t up to par. Atlanta United and the NFL’s Falcons play on turf inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, however the artificial turf was replaced with grass on Sunday.
Copa América grass issue
The replacement grass was basically placed over concrete creating a uniquely bad surface to play on.
Racism is still the biggest plague of the “Beautiful Game”, and it reared its ugly head on Thursday as Argentina and Lionel Messi fans racially abused Canada’s Moïse Bombito on social media.
Fans weren’t happy about the tackle on Messi from the Colorado Rapids star during the Copa América opener between Canada and Argentina. During the second half Messi went down and received treatment following this tackle from the Canada defender.
The Copa América kicked off with Argentina defeating Canada 2-0 on Thursday, however a FOX audio delay frustrated fans who tuned into FS1.
For the entire first half of the opening match commentators John Strong and Stu Holden were on a roughly two second delay.
FOX has had audio issues in the past, but thankfully this time at least the audio was behind rather than two seconds ahead. There’s nothing worse than the commentators spoiling what you’re about to see.
Here were some examples of what the audio delay looked like in the highlights during the first half.
The Copa América will have a taste of MLS this summer.
MLS is slowly, but surely becoming one of the most competitive leagues in North and South America, with players representing the league at some of the highest levels of play in the world.
Argentina defeated Guatemala 4-1 Friday night at FedEx Field near Washington D.C. in a friendly with Lionel Messi scoring twice. The first Messi goal vs Guatemala came after a terrible goalkeeper blunder and gave the Inter Miami star the easiest goal of his career.
In the 12th minute Guatemala had a surprise 1-0 lead against the defending world champions. Disaster then struck in the Guatemalan penalty area as goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen had a careless giveaway.
If there’s one guy you don’t want to give the ball away to in front of your goal, it’s Messi.