Penalty shootouts can be described as the most cruel form of competition. In just a few minutes, the winner will be decided. Moreover, the psychological pressure faced by free throw shooters is considerable.
Because everyone takes penalty kicks for granted, and those who fail to score are guilty. This will make the penalty kick players worry about gains and losses and put a lot of pressure on them.
But no matter how reluctant he was, in the suffocating atmosphere of the scene, the penalty shootout officially began.
First, the home team La Prada Estudiantes took the penalty, and the first one to stand up was forward Joaquin Correa.
He walked slowly into the penalty area and placed the ball on the penalty spot. Hurricanes goalkeeper Marcos Dias on the goal line began to dance back and forth on the goal line to interfere with Joaquin Correa. and pressure.
Joaquín Correa was indeed affected by Marcos Dias. After the referee blew the whistle to allow a penalty kick, a shot actually kicked off the crossbar and flew into the stands.
"ah……"
"The ball was kicked away!"
"Joaquin Correa, the first penalty kicker from Estudiantes of La Plata, may have wanted to kick into the upper left corner under tremendous pressure and interference from Marcos Dias."
"Not only did the ball fail to go into the goal, but it flew directly over the crossbar."
“It’s up to the Hurricanes next.”
The home team fans in the stands let out a chorus of sighs, and many of them slapped their heads frantically, feeling quite bad about Joaquín Correa's opening goal.
The first person for the Hurricanes to step up and take the penalty was forward Thomson Mira.
Seeing the lessons learned from Joaquín Correa, Mira did not dare to hit the upper corner, but instead hit the lower right corner after changing the rhythm during the approach.
After Mira's ball was shot out, the opponent's goalkeeper Hilario Navarro made the right judgment and threw it sideways. Fortunately, Thomson Milla's penalty angle was tricky enough. Hilario Navarro's flight missed the ball by the slightest. The ball passed through the gap between him and the post, and went inside. into the lower right corner of the goal.
Willard and others, who were standing side by side on the center line, holding hands, suddenly shouted:
"good!"
"yeah!"
"nice shot!"
"Long live Mira!"
Thomson Mira withstood the pressure and scored the first penalty kick, giving the Hurricanes a good start. The Hurricanes led 1-0 in the penalty shootout.
This pressure is on the students of La Plata.
The Estudiantes played midfielder Roman Martinez in the second round. Fortunately, he withstood the pressure and scored the ball into the lower left corner to equalize the score.
But Mancinelli, the second captain of the Hurricanes Athletic Team, also has a very good psychological quality, otherwise he would not be the captain. When he faced Hilario Navarro, he directly hit the goal with a heavy kick and sent the ball to the right side of the goal.
Although goalkeeper Hilario Navarro judged the right direction, he still missed the ball and could only watch helplessly as the ball hit the net.
Mancinelli won the second round, giving Hurricanes a 2-1 lead in the penalty shootout.
Estudiantes of La Plata started the third round, with forward Carrillo taking the field. Carrillo also withstood the pressure and pushed straight to the lower right corner, sending the ball into the dead corner.
But then the midfielder of the Hurricanes Athletic Team, Giman Mandarino, who took the penalty, was also very skilled. He sent the ball into the upper left corner with a bold volley without flying over the crossbar.
This kind of goal will be completely out of reach, with only two results: either flying into the blind corner, or flying out of the door frame.
Fortunately, Jimon Mandarino played well and did not miss any free throws. The Hurricanes led 3-2.
The crucial fourth round is here.
If the La Plata University misses a free throw in this round and the Hurricanes continue to make free throws, the score will become 4-2. No matter what the result of the fifth round is, the Hurricanes will win.
Therefore, if Universidad de La Plata misses a free throw in this round and Athletics Hurricanes scores, there will be no penalty at all in the fifth round. The Hurricanes will directly win with a score of 4-2, and Universidad de La Plata will be fourth. Damonte, the player who takes the penalty, is under a lot of pressure.
He stood in front of the penalty spot, took several breaths in a row, and then, without looking up at Marcos Dias who was jumping sideways repeatedly, he rushed up and kicked the ball to the left side of the goal.
He didn't make any fake moves with this ball, so goalkeeper Marcos Dias judged the direction, flew sideways, and successfully touched the ball with his fingertips.
However, Damonte's ball was too powerful. Although Marcos Dias touched the ball, he was unable to completely poke the ball out of the post.
The ball only changed its line slightly, and finally flew into the goal against the post.
Damonte kept hope alive for the La Plata college students.
The pressure is on the Hurricanes Athletic Team.
The Hurricanes' fourth round appearance was midfielder Federico Bismara. He was previously the main defensive midfielder of the Hurricanes. Now he has been squeezed to the bench by Velarde who plays with a system plug-in and can only occasionally play. Get some opportunities for central defenders or defensive midfielders to come off the bench.
Perhaps because he played less in the game and was under great psychological pressure, Bismara, who tried to hit a blind corner, failed to perform well. His push shot rolled directly off the baseline and failed to hit the door frame.
After Estudiantes of La Plata made a mistake in the first round, the Hurricanes also made a mistake in the fourth round and missed a penalty kick. The two sides are now tied at 3-3 in the penalty shootout.
The fifth round of penalty kicks came.
If there is a tie in this round, a decisive battle will begin in the sixth round. The next round will continue only if there is a tie, but if one side misses a free throw and the other side scores a free throw, it will directly end the penalty shootout.
Therefore, the players on both sides of the fifth round of free throws were also under considerable pressure. Generally speaking, the players who take free throws in the fifth round are players with high psychological quality and a high probability of being able to withstand pressure and make free throws.
Velarde was played fifth by Mario Binco, who was the one who gave him the finishing touch and ensured no mistakes in the final round.
However, it was the players from Estudiantes of La Plata who played first.
The opponent sent their captain and center back Jonajan Shunk.
As a central defender, Jonajanshunk's skills are not very good, so he did not choose to take a clever shot. Instead, after a long run-up, he directly hit the goal with a heavy kick, trying to use unmatched power. , scored a goal.
His heavy kick to hit the goal was really good, it was powerful, fast, and had a tricky angle.
However, Hurricanes goalkeeper Marcos Dias made an advance prediction and accurately judged the direction of his shot. He flew out to the right side of the goal the moment before he touched the ball, and just touched it with his palm. After reaching the ball, he pushed it hard to the outside, and the ball was saved from the post and flew out of the baseline.
"Wow……"
"The ball was saved!"
"Marcos Diaz has done a great job!"
"He saved a hard shot from Estudiantes captain Jonah Schonker at the end of the line."
"The score is still 3-3, but Hurricanes Athletics has not yet made a penalty in the fifth round."
"If the Hurricanes score a penalty, the Hurricanes will win the penalty shootout with a score of 4-3. They will also win the quarter-finals and advance to the semi-finals of the Argentine Cup."
“Let’s see who’s the last guy out for the Hurricanes.”
Then, everyone saw that after a crazy celebration of the Hurricanes Athletic Team, a man wearing jersey No. 33 came out of the team.
None other than Alan Willard.
“The last guy from the Hurricanes to take a kick was Alan Willard.”
"Although he is a defensive midfielder, Willard's psychological quality is obvious to all. He is quite mature and quite stable."
"The Hurricanes put Velarde last to play, just for the finale."
"Let's see if Willard can withstand the pressure, score this penalty, lead the Hurricanes to another upset, defeat the strong team of the A-League, and advance to the semi-finals!"
The fans of the Estudiantes de La Plata home team in the stands booed Velarde loudly in an attempt to disturb him.
But Villard was not disturbed at all. He walked slowly towards the penalty area while mentally planning how to play.
When he walked into the penalty area and looked at the opponent's goalkeeper Hilario Navarro, whose body and eyes showed nervousness, he made a decision in his heart.
Then, in the suffocating air, in the expectations of countless Hurricanes fans, players, and coaches, and in the boos of the home team fans, Velarde glanced firmly at the lower right corner, and then passed a long distance. After the run-up, he just kicked the ball gently and headed straight to the center.
Spoon penalty!
Willard actually gave a spoon penalty at such a suffocating time.
If the goalkeeper reacts slower and stands more in the middle of the goal line, he can catch the ball easily.
But in fact, goalkeeper Hilario Navarro predicted the moment before Willard touched the ball and pounced into the lower right corner.
It was the look of Velarde's shot towards the lower right corner that confused the goalkeeper. In addition, Velarde gave people the impression of a beastly waist and a butcher, so he would definitely shoot hard. Therefore, the confused Hilario Navarro did not hesitate to save the ball before Willard kicked it out.
Unexpectedly, at such a suffocatingly tense moment, Velarde launched a light spoon lob, which stunned Hilario Navarro, who had misjudged it in advance and pounced on the right, and could only turn his head. Sitting on the ground, he turned his head and watched blankly as the ball hit the net.
The commentators were all surprised and shouted excitedly:
"Goooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball is in!"
"Gosh!"
"Spoon cumshot!"
"Alan Willard from Hurricanes Athletic was so audacious that he deceived the goalkeeper and scored with a lob in the stifling final penalty shootout!"
“Hurricane Athletics won.”
"The penalty shootout was 4-3, and the total score was 6-5. Atletico Hurricanes once again pulled off an upset and defeated Estudiantes, a strong team from the First Division, and advanced to the semi-finals of the Argentine Cup."
"A great victory, a hard-fought victory."
"After conceding the first goal in both regular season and overtime, the Hurricanes finally equalized the score and dragged the game into a penalty shootout. They defeated Estudiantes through the penalty shootout and advanced to the semi-finals of the Argentine Cup."
"The best player in this game is undoubtedly Alan Willard. He has been awarded the man of the match for many consecutive games. This game is undoubtedly the man of the match again."
"He not only ensured the safety of the Hurricanes' defense during regular game time, but also scored a tying goal in the 116th minute of overtime to help the Hurricanes score a penalty kick."
“In the final round of the penalty shootout, Velarde withstood the pressure and scored an elegant spoon penalty, helping Atletico Hurricanes defeat Estudiantes of La Plata and advance to the next round of the Argentine Cup. "
"Atlético Hurrican has advanced to the semi-finals of the Argentine Cup and is only one step away from the final."
"Atletico Huracán, from the second division, has undoubtedly become the biggest dark horse in the Argentina Cup this season."
"Let us wait and see whether they can continue to perform the dark horse miracle and finally advance to the finals or even get on the highest podium."
