Mexico cruised to a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in their Copa América Group B opener on Saturday, but their joy at getting off to a winning start was tempered by what appeared to be a potentially life-threatening injury. end of the tournament of captain Edson Álvarez.
Álvarez collapsed holding his hamstring in the 30th minute and left the pitch limping and in tears.
Jamaica, ranked 38th behind Mexico, thought they had scored their first ever Copa America goal when Michail Antonio headed home five minutes into the second half but the goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant manager.
Mexico moved into high gear after the scare, with Luis Chávez, Santiago Giménez and Gerardo Arteaga all making fine saves from Jamaican goalkeeper Jahmali Waite, before Arteaga finally broke the deadlock in the 69th minute with a thunderous strike.
Mexico, competing in the Copa América for the 11th time, reached the final in 1993 and 2001.
Both teams had relatively inexperienced goalkeepers. Julio González made his third start for Mexico after veteran Guillermo Ochoa was left out of the squad and his predecessor Luis Malagón was recently injured.
Waite got the nod for Jamaica because Andre Blake, a two-time Major League Soccer goalkeeper of the year for the Philadelphia Union, was injured before the tournament. Waite made eight saves.
The result puts Mexico level on three points with Venezuela, who beat Ecuador 2-1 in the other Group B clash earlier in the day.
Jamaica faces Ecuador in Las Vegas on Wednesday, while Mexico faces Venezuela in Inglewood, California.
