Tecatito does best Messi impression to rescue Mexico against Venezuela (Video)

The Copa America Centenario has turned into the Copa America of Surprises.

A previously dithering United States won a group with Colombia, the third-ranked team in the world. Peru won Group B over Ecuador, sending home Brazil – although admittedly under controversial circumstances.

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And Venezuela very nearly won Group C, coming within 10 minutes of topping Mexico, after already eliminating mighty Uruguay.

Had La Vinotinto held on to their lead on Monday night, this unlikeliest of Cinderella stories by the 77th-ranked team in the world would have been even better. But Tecatito Corona's late equalizer for El Tri undid Jose Manuel Velazquez's 10th-minute goal in their enthralling group stage finale in Houston.

Juan Carlos Osorio, the red-hot new Mexico coach, made nine changes to his starting lineup, ensuring that he will have used almost his entire 23-man roster already before the knockout stage has even begun. And it very nearly cost him big. Had Mexico not scraped out the point, it would likely have faced Argentina in the quarterfinals, rather than Chile or Panama.

Because for 70 minutes, Velazguez's splendid scissor kick and the square header off a long free kick held up.

Mexico began cutting through the Venezuelan lines soon enough, beginning with a very nice interchange between Oribe Peralta and Hirving Lozano, before Lozano whacked his shot right at goalkeeper Dani Hernandez.

Then, shortly before halftime, Mexico probably deserved a penalty. Wilker Angel's arm was way up on a corner when he headed the ball off his own hand.

In the second half, Mexico grew utterly dominant as it chased the equalizer it knew it needed. Peralta got a great chance on a lovely move, but Angel blocked it with his whole body.

Wilker Angel puts his body on the line to deny #ElTri a certain equalizer. #MEXvVEN #MyCopaColors https://t.co/LUE6YRlmub — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 14, 2016

And then Hernandez made two straight point-blank saves on his line, employing incredible acrobatics.

Mexico was again denied a penalty when Javier Hernandez was quite literally wrestled to the ground.

But then began the Tecatito show, or Jesus Manuel Corona show as he is really called. He sliced through the defense, only to smash his finish a few hairs wide.

Since that didn't work, he just did it all over again, but from a different angle. He picked the ball up by the sideline, danced through five defenders and finally beat Hernandez, forcing the breakthrough. It was Messi-esque.

Jesus 'Tecatito' Corona channels his inner Leo Messi to bring #ElTri back on level terms. 😱 #MEXvVEN #MyCopaColors https://t.co/k6ksbFOJB1 — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 14, 2016

And so Mexico got what it needed. Most of all, it got to stay on the softer side of the bracket, which will also hold Peru and Colombia – rather than be stuck on the same side as the Argentines and the United States.

Venezuela will now face Argentina. Perhaps the lowest-ranked team in the tournament can spring another surprise.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.