‘This looks like it’s a parody,’ claim Copa America fans after Venezuela star flattened by referee during ‘chaotic’ game
SOCCER fans have been left in stitches after a hilarious incident during Venezuela’s win against Ecuador.
Venezuela pulled off a huge upset on Saturday as they beat Ecuador, who are ranked 24 spots ahead of them in the world, 2-1 at Levi’s Stadium.
With 20 minutes played, and the game goalless, it turned on its head when Ecuador and former West Ham United forward Enner Valencia was sent off.
This came after the 34-year-old flew in midfielder Josef Martinez’s chest with his cleats out.
Ecuador eventually took the lead just before halftime thanks to Jeremy Sarmiento.
Come the 57th minute, Venezuela was pushing, with their eyes so firmly fixed on the prize that one player seemingly wasn’t all too aware of his surroundings.
As the ball was crossed into space just outside of the penalty box, at which point a Venezuelan player sprinted to make it, not realizing that the referee stood directly in his way.
He ran straight into the back of the official, falling straight to the ground, allowing Ecuador to take over possession.
Venezuela manager Fernando Batista immediately headed for the fourth official, demonstrating along with his fellow coaches.
The clip quickly landed on X, formerly known as Twitter, where Men In Blazers captioned it, “Copa America is so chaotic the referee is taking players out.”
“Venezuela needs to hit the weight room,” one fan said.
“VAR determined that the ref must give himself a red card,” commented a second.
“This looks like it’s a parody, but I assure you it’s real LOL,” added another.
While a fourth asked, “What is the bench even crying about when their player intentionally ran into the ref lol.”
Jhonder Cadiz would go on to equalize in the 64th minute before Eduard Bello sealed the win ten minutes later.
This marked a landmark win for Venezuela who had only won one game at the competition in their last two attempts.
USMNT's Copa America schedule
Group C
Sun 23 June, 6pm ET – vs. Bolivia (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas)
Thur 27 June, 6pm ET – vs. Panama (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia)
Mon 1 July, 9pm ET – vs. Uruguay (Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri)
It was also Cadiz’s first-ever international goal and only Bello’s third.
Next up for Venezuela is Mexico on June 26 at SoFi Stadium.
This will be followed by their final group game against Jamaica on June 30 at Q2 Stadium.
Ecuador will attempt to get their tournament back on track against Jamaica on June 26 at Allegiant Stadium.
The University of Phoenix Stadium and Mexico then await on June 30.