After the ninth round of the league was completed, the Hurricanes Athletics, which lost 0-1 away from home, dropped to fifth place, which was a bit unsatisfactory.
Although there are 5 promotion places in Group B of A2, only the top four are directly promoted to A. The fifth and sixth place need to play an promotion play-off to determine the last promotion place.
Therefore, only entering the top four is the safest.
However, now the Hurricanes have to put more energy into the Argentine Cup. The league can only catch up after finishing the cup.
On Thursday, September 25th, Krisna and the others originally had classes. However, in order to watch Willard's game, the three of them collectively asked for leave, skipped class and came to Thomas Duke Stadium to cheer for Willard.
They study music anyway, so it doesn't matter if they miss a class or two.
The weather was also good for this game. The Duke Thomas Stadium, which can accommodate 48,000 people, was full. There were even some fans outside who couldn't buy tickets to enter.
The reason is that the Hurricanes defeated Boca Juniors in the last round of the Argentine Cup. Now fans are more concerned about the Hurricanes' performance in the Argentine Cup than their performance in the Albanian League.
Now we are in the top 16. If you win one game, you will be the top 8. If you win two games, you will be the top four. If you win three games, you will enter the finals. If you win four games, you will be the champion. This is much more exciting than the Albanian League B.
Moreover, if you win the championship through the Argentine Cup, you can directly advance to the South American Football Confederation Cup (equivalent to the Europa League) next season as an Argentina second team. That scene will naturally be much more exciting than playing in the Argentina second league. This is also the reason why low-level teams from various countries are particularly excited to play in cup competitions, and why cup competitions are particularly prone to upsets.
The opponent of the Hurricanes in this game was not a second-division team, but Banfield of the first-division league. However, Banfield is currently only ranked fourth from the bottom of the A-League. It has not won a single victory in the last four rounds and is in poor form. This is a great opportunity for the Hurricanes to upset.
Therefore, it is understandable that the Thomas Duke Stadium was full. Even if you are not a die-hard fan, you want to be there at this time to see if the Hurricanes can upset the Class A team and take a step forward and enter the quarterfinals.
When Willard entered the stadium with his teammates and began to warm up before the game, he was also shocked by the momentum of filling the entire stadium.
For a second-tier team to play, as many as 48,000 seats are filled, which is unimaginable in China.
In the domestic second-tier league, even with free tickets, it is difficult to fill half of the seats. The atmosphere is indeed very different.
What moved Velarde even more was that when Velarde appeared on the court, there were many fans in the stands cheering him on with slogans or spray-painted portraits supporting Velarde.
Starting four consecutive games and being named Man of the Match in four consecutive games, Velarde's performance has been recognized by many Hurricanes fans, and many have become his fans.
A midfielder defensive player has received greater recognition than a forward, which truly proves that Velarde's performance is much higher than that of other teammates. Even Gonzano Martinez, who has already attracted the attention of Serie A giants, has not had as much limelight as Velarde in these games.
Willard's defensive ability has indeed become a superior presence in the second league.
After the warm-up, he returned to the locker room. Mario Binco clapped his hands, attracted everyone's attention and said: "We lost 0-1 in the last round of the league and dropped to fifth in the standings. Everyone knows The reason is to preserve our strength and prepare for today’s game.”
"If we can beat Banfield today and advance to the quarter-finals of the Argentine Cup, then our rotation in the last round was wise and will be praised by the fans."
"And if we don't win the game today, then the rotation in the last round will be worth the loss."
"Although Banfield is a first-division team, it is currently only ranked fourth from the bottom. It has not won a single victory in the last four league games and is in very poor shape."
"This game is our home court again. More than 40,000 home fans are cheering for us. It is a great opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals with an upset."
When saying this, all the players seemed very excited, as if they had already won against Banfield.
But at this time, Mario Binco said:
"But please remember, Banfield is a Class A team and we are a Class B team."
"Even if they rank fourth from the bottom in Class A, they are still a Class A team after all. The average strength of the team is still better than ours."
"We are only ranked fifth in League Two, so I hope everyone will be calmer, more cautious, and not have any contempt."
"Our strength will ultimately be weaker than Banfield's, and there is no reason to underestimate the other party. We can only go all out with our tenacious fighting spirit, united style, never-giving fighting spirit, and the advantage of playing at home. Go for the win.”
"I hope everyone will keep this in mind."
After listening to the head coach's reminder, some players who had been distracted finally woke up and recognized their position.
Indeed, as Mario Binco said, no matter how bad Banfield's condition is, they are still a first-class team. As for the Hurricanes, not only is it a second-tier team, but it is currently only ranked in the middle of the second-division team. What reason is there to look down on them?
If you don't take it seriously, you will become a laughing stock if you lose the game: "A B team dares to despise the A team, now you have been educated, right?"
Mario Binko is indeed very capable, and he accurately discovered everyone’s bad signs and reminded them.
In this way, the Hurricanes Athletic Team truly has the possibility of an upset. Even so, the possibility is not very high, and everyone still needs to go all out, fight tenaciously, and try their best to win in the game.
But after all, there is a glimmer of possibility.
After the appearance ceremony, at 16:00 on September 25th, with the referee's whistle, the 2013/2014 Argentine Cup 1/8 finals of the 2013/2014 Argentine Cup Athletic Club faced Banfield at home at the Thomas Duke Stadium in front of 48,000 people. It officially started with cheers.
Mario Binco reminded the players to face each other squarely and not to underestimate the enemy, and he did the same thing himself.
Even though it was at home, even though the opponent was in poor form recently, Mario Binco still sent out a 4231 defensive counterattack formation instead of the usual 352 to fight against a Class A team.
The starting goalkeeper is No. 1 Marcos Dias, who has returned from injury. The back line from left to right is No. 4 Santiago Echeberria, No. 5 Federico Bismara, and No. 2 Mancinelli. , No. 6 Eramspe, double midfielder No. 33 Alan Willard, No. 8 Lucas Villaruel, left midfielder No. 31 Djimaine Mandarino, right midfielder No. 18 Toranso, attacking midfielder No. 10 Gonzano Martinez, and lone forward Thomson Mira.
After the game started, the Hurricanes stood on defense and waited for their opponents to attack without rushing forward.
Banfield is different. Facing a team ranked in the middle of the A-League Second Division, they are bound to win this game with their recent poor record. They must use this game to wipe out the decline and boost the team's morale.
Although the Hurricanes once defeated Boca Juniors 2-0, they didn't care very much. They felt that the Hurricanes were lucky in that game.
The Hurricanes' recent record in the A-League has not been good. They are currently ranked 5th in the A-League. They are not even at the top of the A-League. How can they compete with a first-division team like them?
Therefore, Banfield did not shy away from playing away games, but boldly pressed forward to attack, trying to use the A-level team's tidal offensive to defeat the Hurricanes and win a big victory.
Of course, Alan Willard, who has risen recently and is the best defensive player in the A-League B with the ability to overpower offensive players in every game, still makes Banfield a little scrupulous. He deliberately avoids Willard during the attack. The defense zone where it is located.
In the 4th minute, after Banfield midfielder Casares attracted Velarde's defense with the ball, he suddenly made a big move and moved the ball to the left wing, where their left midfielder Nuval received the ball. A pass was passed from the left, and center Santiago Salcedo grabbed the first point from the middle to attack the goal.
The ball successfully hit the goal frame, but unfortunately it was a bit on target. Goalkeeper Marcos Dias did not make any low-level mistakes and held the ball firmly in his arms.
In the 7th minute, Banfield made another pass from the right, once again forming a momentum of fighting for the top goal in the penalty area. But this time, Mancinelli grabbed the first point and did not allow the opponent to form an effective attack.
Seeing that the opponent deliberately avoided his defense zone and attacked from the side, Villard also began to adjust his defensive strategy. On the one hand, he expanded the running distance and compressed the opponent's side attack route. On the other hand, he also paid attention to returning to defense at any time. When the opponent successfully passes the ball, he can also return to the penalty area to participate in the aerial challenge, or closely mark the opponent's offensive players to prevent the opponent from easily succeeding in the aerial challenge.
In the 14th minute, Banfield full-back Nogueira suddenly advanced to attack, used a one-two to break through Lucas Villaruel and then passed down the bottom and hoisted the ball into the penalty area.
Banfield center Santiago Salcedo, midfielder Casares, and shadow forward Nicolas Bertolo all entered the penalty area to participate in the battle for the top. Velarde was closest to the opponent's shadow forward Bertolo, so he got close to him.
As a result, the ball happened to land near Velarde and Bertolo. Velarde used his keen awareness to judge the landing point first, and then used his body to block the position and easily pushed the ball out of the penalty area to clear the ball.
But Nicolas Bertolo may have been dissatisfied that Velarde had snatched the ball first. The moment Velarde jumped up to head the ball to clear the ball, he reached out and pushed Velarde's waist hard.
Willard was caught off guard and lost his center of gravity and fell from the air. If he hadn't been quick enough to reach out and make a protective movement on the ground to cushion the blow, he might have been injured.
The referee's whistle sounded and Nicolas Bertolo was shown a yellow card.
However, Bertolo was unapologetic, and when Villard got up, Bertolo sneered provocatively at Villard.
Willard did not respond immediately, but took note of it, preparing to teach the other party a lesson.
On the one hand, it is because he wants to maintain his tough guy and animal-waist persona on the court to take revenge on his opponents; on the other hand, Banfield's offense is indeed quite fierce. If Bertolo can be injured, it will affect the opponent's tactics. The layout and mental state may be able to alleviate the defensive pressure on the Hurricanes Athletics.
