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Mexico will likely need to overcome the absence of captain Edson Alvarez when they try to continue their winning start to Copa America against Venezuela on Wednesday night in Inglewood, Calif.

The West Ham defensive midfielder departed on a stretcher just shy of the half-hour mark of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Jamaica after clutching his left hamstring.

Although manager Jaime Lozano would not officially confirm his absence — saying the 26-year-old was undergoing more tests on Tuesday — he also spoke of the importance of other experienced members of the group taking the leadership mantle.

“I think we have many leaders,” Lozano said through an interpreter. “Of course it is a hard hit to lose your captain in the first match in the tournament such as this one. But I think the team became stable very fast (against Jamaica). They gave a great performance.”

Luis Romo was Alvarez’s immediate replacement and also accrued the assist on Gerardo Arteaga’s thunderbolt of a match-winning goal.

Romo seems likely to get the starting nod for El Tri against El Vino Tinto in a somewhat unexpected fight for the top spot in the group after Venezuela rallied to a 2-1 win over 10-man Ecuador in their opener Saturday.

Jhonder Cadiz and Eduard Bello scored the second-half goals for Venezuela, with veteran striker Salomon Rondon assisting the former and also getting involved on the latter.

While Enner Valencia’s early ejection certainly contributed to the result, so did the relative level of parity among South American teams — which provides great value for the Mexican, American and Canadian teams playing in this competition.

Without needing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as co-hosts, the Copa America represents the most honest competitive preparation those sides will get. By contrast, at least one of the three nations has reached every CONCACAF Gold Cup final since it began in 1991.

Mexico is in its 11th Copa America appearance, the most of any guest nation.

“It is the most similar tournament to a World Cup for us,” Lozano said. “CONMEBOL has three World Champions. There’s a reason for that.”

–Field Level Media