Yangel Herrera headed Venezuela into a historic FIFA U-20 World Cup quarter-final with a 1-0 extra-time win over Japan booking them into the last eight for the first time.
It was an open affair right from the off with Adalberto Penaranda, Yeferson Soteldo and Ronaldo Pena all came close in an opening 20 minutes.
However, Ritsu Doan rattled the bar with a stinging free-kick before Akito Takagi fired just wide before the break to underline the point.
That momentum continued after half-time, with Doan releasing Koji Miyoshi to fire straight at advancing goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez.
The South Americans retook control of proceedings later on, but could not prevent extra-time.
When Herrera was presented with another opportunity, he rose high at a corner and headed beyond Ryosuke Kojima with 12 minutes to go and earn the team their place in the last eight.