After an appearance ceremony, the game officially started.
It is said that offense wins games and defense wins championships. The importance of defense is unquestionable in modern football games, so Mario Binco did not play against his opponents in this game.
After all, the opponent is the A-League team. This is the opponent's home court, and the opponent will definitely go all out.
Except for Willard's strength, which may be able to stabilize the opponent's defensive midfielder, the Hurricanes Athletic Team are all standard second-level players in other positions. If the opponent does not underestimate the opponent, they will probably die quite badly if they fight against the opponent. quick.
Therefore, in this game, Mario Binco no longer insisted on 352, but sent out a 4132 formation, withdrew the central midfielder Lucas Villaruel and replaced him with Federico Bismara. Defender, the main lineup of other positions remains unchanged.
After the game started, both sides tested for more than ten minutes, but neither side attacked too hard. They immediately passed back the ball when encountering any obstruction and continued to control the ball at their own feet. As long as the opponent cannot get the ball, there is no threat.
Both sides played very cautiously, and it was not until more than ten minutes later that they began to slowly strengthen their attacks. But even so, the offensive intensity is not strong. Once the ball is lost, the defense will be like a tide, without giving the opponent a chance to counterattack.
It wasn't until the 23rd minute of the first half that Rafael took attacking midfielder Gonzalez and made a wonderful pass into the penalty area. Forward Alvertengo grabbed the spot and volleyed into the goal frame, completing the first threatening goal for both sides. Shoot.
But Alvartengo's shot failed to score. Because the angle was not tricky enough, it was saved by goalkeeper Marcos Dias, and then was kicked out of the penalty area by defender Santiago Echeberria who returned to defend. around.
After the first threatening shot hit the door frame, both sides began to speed up their offensive rhythm.
In the 29th minute, the Hurricanes also made a pass from the right from Toranso. Thomson Mira grabbed the first point in the penalty area and headed towards the goal, putting the ball inside the goal frame.
Unfortunately, because the angle was not tricky enough, goalkeeper Conde saved it.
After all, La Ferna is still a first-division team. Its overall strength is stronger than that of Hurricanes Athletics, and it has more ball possession. Even with Velarde in charge of the Hurricanes' defense, Rafaelna still created more threatening offensive opportunities.
In the 31st minute, after Rafaelna mobilized Alan Velarde through another team effort, midfielder Gonzalez passed a diagonal pass from the left side of the penalty area, and left midfielder Rodriguez made a cross pass. In front of the goal, forward Orsini followed up with a volley.
The goal was only four or five meters away from the goal. It was a goal that was more difficult to score than to miss. Many people thought it would definitely score. Many home team fans in the stands had stood up excitedly and were ready to celebrate.
As a result, the ball did not completely roll on the ground, but had a slight bounce. In addition, the shot was interfered by Hurricanes defender Federico Bismara. Orsini's volley failed to hit the right spot. , kicking.
The ball jumped up and grazed his shoe, then flew out of the far goal.
"Rodriguez crosses the goal!"
"good chance!"
"Orsini!"
"ah???"
"Did you kick the ball?"
"Orsini actually kicked the ball, and the ball flew lightly out of the far baseline."
"Orsini wasted a chance to score a sure goal."
In front of the goal, after completing the shot, he found that he failed to kick the ball in and instead "helped" the opponent to clear the ball. His knees weakened in frustration, and he knelt down on the lawn, clenching his right fist and beating the ground. Continuously, obviously very upset.
There was a chorus of sighs in the stands, and some extreme fans even cursed Orsini. It's obvious that if you don't score this kind of opportunity, you will be scolded by some fans.
However, this goal did not seem to dampen Rafael's morale. After all, they are a team playing in the top league, and a single mistake cannot greatly affect the overall morale.
Just three minutes later, Rafaelna made a comeback. The right midfielder Bastia and his teammates made a collision with the wall and then cut inside and passed the ball in an inverted triangle. When receiving the ball on the right side of the top of the arc in the penalty area, he stopped and shook Mancinelli away, and then took a powerful long-range shot.
If the ball hits the goal frame, it still poses a certain threat. Unfortunately, Velarde had already returned to defense at this time. With a flying tackle from the side and behind, he successfully stretched his foot in front of the ball the moment after Gonzalez completed the shot, destroying the ball out of the baseline.
Willard destroyed the opponent's shooting opportunity.
The ensuing corner kick was grabbed by Rafaelna. Their center Alvertengo beat Federico Bismara and headed the goal from the line of the small penalty area. However, he was still blocked. Interference, slightly above the beam.
Although there has been no goal, the momentum of the home team Rafael began to rise. The attacks came one after another and the shots began to increase, which put a lot of pressure on the Hurricanes Athletic Team.
"Rafell, who was playing at home, was in top form. He attacked one wave after another, overwhelming the Hurricanes Athletics team."
"Even Alan Willard sweeping back and forth couldn't stop Rafaelna's attack."
"After all, he is only one person, and Rafael takes the entire team to the level of a first-class team."
"As long as Velard is bypassed, Rafaelna, who is going all out, can easily create shooting opportunities."
"If we continue to play like this for a long time, it will be a matter of time before the Hurricanes' goal is broken."
"Their dark horse journey may be ended by Rafael."
The home team's continuous bombardment made the Hurricanes fans at the scene and in front of the TV nervous. The head coach Mario Binco also stood on the sidelines, anxiously asking the frontcourt players to return to defense, allowing everyone to step up. Large running range to intercept the opponent's attack.
Just when many people thought that the home team Rafaelna would score sooner or later if the game continued like this, in the 36th minute, the Hurricanes finally managed to get the ball in a counterattack and lost the ball again, which was snatched away by the Rafaelna defender. Got the ball.
Thomson Mira and Espinoza rushed towards defender Ferrari who was holding the ball at the same time. Ferrari looked at the frontcourt and did not pass the ball to his teammates on the back line. Instead, he directly kicked the ball. Kicked the ball to the midfield.
Alan Velarde of the Hurricanes, who was closest to where the ball landed, rushed towards the ball's landing point, while forward Orsini and midfielder Serrano of Rafael, who were closer than Velarde, rushed to grab it. Even if he has the ball, he sprints desperately to grab the landing spot.
The key is that Orsini and Serrano only looked at the ball falling in the air, and did not notice that their teammates were also fighting for the landing spot.
When Willard saw that he was farther away than the two of them, it was difficult to grab the first point, so he gave up his takeoff and prepared to grab the second landing point.
As a result, Orsini and Serrano, who took off at the same time, collided in the air and hit each other hard. Serrano was unconscious on the spot, and Orsini also suffered a bloody head.
"Oh, God!"
"Two Rafael players, Orsini and Serrano, jumped at the same time to fight for the first landing point of the ball in the air, and their heads collided violently."
"Serrano fainted and fell to the ground, and Orsini also had a bloody head."
"The two of them collided too hard this time. I'm afraid they will both end up."
The commentator was right. When the two men took off to compete for the top, they only stared at the ball in the air and did not bother to look at other people. As a result, they collided hard. It was quite serious and it was impossible to compete again. After the team doctor's examination, After checking to stop the bleeding, they were both taken off on a stretcher.
Although it is unethical to think this way, the Hurricanes players and fans are truly relieved.
Such serious injuries to two people will definitely affect the morale and offense of the home team.
In fact, this is also the case. Teammates Orsini and Serrano collided with each other and both came off the field. They were forced to make substitutions before the first half was over and replaced them with two substitutes who were much less powerful. While Rafaelna's overall strength dropped significantly, it also blocked their aggressive offensive momentum.
The two teammates worked too hard and both were injured and left the field. This made other Rafael players also have scruples. When fighting later, they will inevitably have to look at nearby opponents and teammates first. If there is a possibility of violent confrontation, When bumped, it is inevitable to flinch a little.
The fierce offensive of the home team was blocked by the injury of one of his own family members. The Hurricane Athletics finally recovered and gradually stabilized their position. They were no longer shot into the penalty area so frequently by the home team. At the same time, when he got the ball, he was not as anxious as before, hurriedly making a big kick and giving the ball to the opponent.
When they got the ball, the Hurricanes were able to slowly organize their offense, firmly controlling the ball at their own feet, and slowly advanced into the frontcourt, posing a threat to Rafael's penalty area.
In the 42nd minute, the Hurricanes finally launched another threatening team attack, with Velarde, Gonzano Martinez, Toranso, and Espinoza passing and cutting through Lafayette. Erna's defense finally passed a ground ball from the right by Toranso, and Thomson Mira grabbed the spot in the small penalty area and shot into the lower right corner of the goal.
Unfortunately, goalkeeper Konde judged Thomson Mira's intention and fell to the ground early to block the angle. Mira's push hit Konde's face and was blocked.
Although it was very uncomfortable to be hit in the face by the ball, he successfully defused a close push shot by the Hurricanes. Conde was still very excited after getting up. After celebrating with a fist, he hugged his teammates who were returning to defense and stood in the stands. The home fans in attendance also applauded Conde's block.
Thomson Milla, who only had a shot, was quite disappointed.
If he had not pushed the ball, but had taken a lob, the ball would have passed over Conde and flown into the goal.
It's a pity that there is no regret medicine in the stadium. Just like Orsini's previous shot in the small penalty area in front of the goal, if you miss it, you miss it, and you can no longer turn back time.
Thomson Milla's shot was also the last threatening shot from both sides in the first half.
Although the treatment of injuries caused by the collision between two Rafael players was delayed for several minutes, the referee gave 3 minutes of extra time in the first half. But in the remaining minutes, neither side created such a threatening opportunity.
After 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, and the two sides entered the halftime break with a 0-0 draw.
The home team Rafael, which originally had the upper hand in the first half, collided with two starting players in the air in the 36th minute. Both players were injured and left the field, bringing the status and strength of both sides back to the same starting line.
It’s really hard to tell which side can score first in the second half, end the game, and ultimately advance to the final.
