Midseason Grades For All 12 WNBA Teams: Why Liberty, Lynx And Sun Get High Marks
July 4 (Reuters) - History is at stake for both Venezuela and Canada when they meet on Friday in Arlington, Texas, in the second Copa America quarter-final.
Long considered one of the minnows of South American football, Venezuela would guarantee tying their best Copa America showing by advancing past Canada, ensuring they at least match their fourth-place finish in 2011.
"We know that we have to motivate ourselves a little bit more than maybe how we motivated ourselves for the group phase," Venezuela manager Fernando Batista said, through an interpreter.
"Because we are very close to surpassing the best performance historically of Venezuela in Copa America. We know it's important."
Venezuela won all three of their Group B matches but perhaps rode their luck a bit in the process, aided by Enner Valencia's early red card in a 2-1 win over Ecuador and Orbelin Pineda's penalty miss in a 1-0 win over Mexico.
In their first Copa America appearance, Canada also got some breaks in their path to the quarter-finals, defeating Peru 1-0 and drawing Chile 0-0 in matches in which both opponents received red cards.
Canada's one goal, scored via Jonathan David, is the fewest among teams that advanced and they will be without winger Tajon Buchanan, who suffered a broken tibia in training following the Chile draw that clinched the second-place finish in Group A.
"There's so much room for improvement," manager Jesse Marsch said after the Chile draw.
"But I have to say the overall mentality and commitment to try to be the team that we want to become has been at the highest level I've seen of any team I've worked with.
"That part I've really enjoyed. I'm proud of them, but more so, I'm happy for them." (Reporting by Field Level Media; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
Nba Finals Celebs 6 84d7d91cd3034b9a9e4cf66396e8019e Nia Longs Family Album With Ime Udoka Sons Massai And Kenz Aug 2012 ?w=700&quality=40&strip=allNia Long With Her Sons Ss Embed Nialongfamilyig ?quality=99&strip=all&w=609&h=608L9BxZ8P Newspress Collage 6551353 1669908488414 ?166989051463097029 11279267 Image A 1 1664891474404 Nia Long Kids 3 98238e5d57fb4394b8ebdac08bd6bd34 Mgid Arc Imageassetref Bet.com 34522b80 F3d8 11eb 84ca 0e0dce71f2a5?quality=0.7&gen=ntrn&legacyStatusCode=true2918F05800000578 0 Image M 79 1432695574777 Main Qimg 098797946927126c47e975a67030f9a7 LqRawImage 7c51ea69b36dfe2ec04b3324dece4999 Nia Long Masai Ime Nia Talk ?resize=147Nia Longs Son Really Tough 7342502 Nia Longs Family Album With Ime Udoka Sons Massai And Kenz Promo ?w=1000&quality=55&strip=allNia Long Massai Dorsey Talita Long Attending Tyler Perrys The Single Moms Club World Premiere Held At The Cinerama Dome 2HY3T6R Article 2060114 0E98000100000578 732 468x622 6afed5c918961256d32885eeb4a09edf3541731576003733 D2ZEyw4WoAA0Lbh 2558dc04deaf1c9113e9a3765f825cb2July 28 2012 Actress Nia Long At Denbys Restaurant With Her Father CME6MF 2023 02 23 03 Nia Long Doc Sommore Nia D853fd3ef5a697cd9369b5afff353d8a 123b984d741f1f8d4278bfae62d36e271415891581065289 ?width=682&height=1024NYPICHPDPICT000025904795 YCl3L3O Bw2xCM9 Nia Snuggles Ime ?resize=33Nia Long Never Married To Ime Udoka 01 Nia Long Sons Wenn36872949 9e060db05d04debd66422e58e605cee3 Bdb8d875c338f115 Nia Long Center And Her Sons Kez L And Massai Attend Nickelodeons Kids Choice Awards 2019 At Uscs Galen Center In Los Angeles California On March 23 2019 Photo By Chris Chewupi TY8WF9