In Group A of Copa America 2019, Brazil was too strong compared to the other teams, so the ticket to the next round was almost in the hands of the home team. The second official ticket is a competition between Peru and Venezuela.
Therefore, the direct match between these two teams in the opening match of Copa America is very important. If the team wins, they will take control of the decision to win the ticket to continue.
Venezuela just had a 3-0 victory over the US in a recent friendly match. This result helps them end a 3-match streak of not knowing the taste of victory and this will help the Venezuelan players gain more confidence in the upcoming opening match against Peru.
On the other side of the front line, Peru have won only 4 out of their last 14 matches. Although 2 of those have come from the last 4 matches, it can be seen that this team is in quite poor form.
However, Peru is still rated higher than Venezuela ahead of the upcoming match. Peru is ranked 21st on FIFA's rankings while Venezuela is ranked 33rd.
After the opening whistle, Venezuela was the team that took the initiative and controlled the ball better. However, Coach Rafael Dudamel's team did not cause much trouble for Peru.
Although Peru controlled the ball less, it was especially dangerous in quick counter-attacks. In the 7th minute, from a messy ball in the penalty area, Christofer Gonzales quickly shot into the Venezuela net, but after consulting VAR, the referee refused to recognize the goal because the Peruvian player had previously committed a foul on goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez.
On the Venezuelan side, this team appeared deadlocked by Peru's defensive and counter-attacking play. In the 27th minute, Venezuela was awarded a direct free kick against Peru's penalty area, Jefferson Savarino fired a powerful shot, but could not beat goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
In the second half, Peru played more proactively, confidently controlling the ball to launch an attack. In the 63rd minute, Jefferson Farfan headed the ball accurately to defeat goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez, but once again the referee did not recognize Peru's goal because he thought the player who crossed the ball to Jefferson Farfan was offside.
Although the referee denied the goal twice, Peru was not discouraged, coach Ricardo Gareca's team played very determinedly, creating good scoring opportunities, unfortunately their strikers could not defeat Wuilker Farinez.
From the 75th minute, Peru played with an extra player when Luis Del Pino received a second yellow card. However, coach Ricardo Gareca and his team could not take advantage of this advantage. In the end, Peru and Venezuela drew 0-0. Thus, after the first match, Brazil temporarily leads Group A with 3 points, Peru and Venezuela are behind with the same 1 point, Bolivia is behind with 0 points.
