ARLINGTON, Texas — After a third save by Maxime Crepeau, Ismael Koné scored in the sixth round of the shootout and Canada advanced to its first Copa America semifinal with a win over Venezuela on Friday night.
Canada prevented Venezuela from reaching the Copa America semifinals for the first time since 2011, winning 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals.
Jakob Schaffelburg scored for Canada in the 13th minute, while Salomon Rondon tied the game for Venezuela in the 64th minute.
The win set up Canada, ranked 48th in the world, for a rematch against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the world’s top-ranked team and defending Copa America champions, on Tuesday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The fifth-round penalty shootout saw both teams score three goals each, sending the game into extra time.
Canada’s Maxime Crepeau silenced the Venezuelan crowd of 51,080 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys by stopping a shot by Jonder Cadiz, before Kone easily converted a shot by Rafael Romo to seal the win.
With Venezuela, ranked 54th in the world, trailing 1-0, John Aramburu sent a long pass from inside his own penalty area, leaving Rondon and Moise Bonvito alone battling for a loose ball near midfield.
As soon as Rondon got the ball, Crepeau realised he was too far away and sprinted towards goal, but it was too late: Rondon’s lofted shot went over the head of a scrambling Crepeau and bounced two yards out before going into the goal.
Canada became just the fourth team to score just one goal in a Copa America group match, and it didn’t take them long to duplicate that tally in their first repechage match.
Schaffelburg scored after an assist from Jonathan David in a 1-0 win over Peru, after receiving a pass from David and slotting the ball with his right foot between the right post and Rafael Romo.
After scoring, Schaffelburg held up over his head the No. 17 jersey of forward Tajon Buchanan, who broke his left tibia during practice three days before the match against Venezuela.
Rondon had two early header chances that were saved, and shortly afterwards, Schaffelburg had another dangerous shot from just inside the box that was deflected away by Romo.
Before Rondon’s equaliser, Eduardo Bello redirected a corner kick towards goal, but the ball was deflected off a jumping Crepeau and dropped into the top of the net.
Schaffelburg was injured in a tackle, dropped to the sideline and then received a yellow card in the 36th minute for trying to return too quickly.
He limped to the sideline and tried to get back in front of a Venezuelan free kick from the Canadian defence.
He was sent off and Canada briefly went down one man before clearing the ball to midfield, allowing him to return.
