On Monday, February 23, with only 13 skill points, Willard thought about it and chose to increase his physique from 87 to 88, his shooting from 71 to 72, and his reverse foot from 43 to 72. 44. Passing increased from 71 to 72, leaving 1 skill point remaining.
The next day was the first round of the Copa Libertadores group stage. What's better is that the Hurricanes are playing at home instead of having to travel far.
After advancing to the group stage through a 6-0 bloodbath of the Lima League in the two rounds of qualifying, Atletico Hurricanes were divided into C with Mañelas from Venezuela, Universidad Suc from Bolivia, and Cruzeiro from Brazil. Group.
The opponent of Atletico Hurricanes in the first game is Menelas from Venezuela. They ranked second in the Venezuelan Super League last season and have good strength.
It is because every opponent in the Copa Libertadores is among the top players in their respective leagues, so the winning odds are much higher than those in the A-League.
Willard also looked at the odds and asked several girlfriends and father-in-law Henderson to buy the Hurricanes to win the Copa Libertadores. Now that the bet has been placed, Willard will naturally do his best to lead his teammates all the way through and finally stand on the podium.
Otherwise, the money of the girlfriend and the father-in-law will be wasted, and it will affect his status in the eyes of the girlfriends.
At 19:00 in the evening on February 24, with the referee's whistle, the first round match of Group C of the 2015 Copa Libertadores between Atletico Hurricanes and McNelas officially started at the Thomas Duke Stadium.
In this game, the main players of the Hurricane Athletic Team were played. The goalkeeper is No. 1 Marcos Dias. The back line from left to right is No. 15 Balbi, No. 25 Eduardo Domingos, No. 21 Nervo, and No. 2 No. Mancinelli, the double back midfielders are No. 4 Alan Willard and No. 8 Lucas Villaruel, the left midfielder No. 10 Alejandro Romero, the right midfielder No. 11 In Turaça, No. 18 Toranso is the attacking midfielder, and the lone forward is No. 9 Avila.
On the McNelas side, the coaching staff also reminded everyone during the pre-game preparations to pay attention to the opponent's No. 7 shadow forward Zamir Varroyes. The opponent is very fast. The coaching staff said that the Hurricanes have No one is as fast as the opponent. You must rely on advance judgment, blocking, and assisting defense to stop the opponent.
Velarde was still a little unconvinced when he heard the coaches say that no one in his team could keep up with the speed of Zamir Valroyes. After all, his speed attribute has reached as high as 86, coupled with the advantage of height and long legs, he has become the fastest player in the Hurricanes team.
Even if the opponent's speed attribute reaches 90, he is not weak.
As a result, it was during the game that Willard really saw how fast the McNelas shadow forward, who was a full 10cm shorter than him and only 176cm tall, was.
In the 7th minute, McNelas kicked the ball from the backcourt into the Hurricanes' half. Velarde and Zamir Valroyes were both about the same distance from where the ball landed. As a result, both of them started at the same time and headed towards When the ball hit the spot and rushed towards him, Zamir Valroyes unexpectedly touched the ball before Velarde, pushed the ball over Velarde's head, and then bypassed Velarde who couldn't stop the car. Completed an aerial ball breakthrough.
Willard went all out and didn't spare any effort. As a result, the opponent got the landing spot first and directly completed the breakthrough with a header.
This is something that rarely happens to Willard.
If Zamir Valroyes hadn't made a big pass in the subsequent breakthrough and was cleared by the experienced captain and full-back Mancinelli, the opponent might have been able to form a threatening attack.
Willard estimated that the opponent's speed attribute might have reached around 95, which was simply inhumane.
The teammates also saw the scene of Velard being crushed by his opponent in terms of speed. They were shocked and at the same time became cautious and paid close attention to Zamir Varroyes.
But on the football field, sometimes you really can't prevent it if you pay attention to it. Especially if it is crushed by hard power, you have nothing to do. Just like Messi, everyone knows that he has to pass people when he gets the ball. If you immediately surround two or three people, you may still be beaten by him.
This is the helplessness of facing a superstar.
Although Zamir Valroyes is not a superstar, his unparalleled speed has become a unique skill on the court that no one can control.
Although it is possible for Velarde to react first with his high attribute awareness and then barely keep up with Varroyes, the problem is that Velarde's position is as a midfielder and Zamir Varroyes' position is as a forward. The moving area is generally between the midfielder and the back line.
Once Zamir sprinted towards the Hurricanes goal, Velard fell behind him. He is already slower than his opponent and his position is still behind his opponent. How can he still catch up?
Just when Velarde was still hesitating whether to withdraw to the back line to help contain Zamir Varroyes, Mainilas had already got his chance.
In the 22nd minute, during the Hurricanes' attack, Velarde used his skills to take on certain passing and cutting coordination tasks, and he got a little forward. But in the end, Toranso's attempt to pass to Avila was seen through by the opponent and the ball was intercepted midway.
Subsequently, when the ball came to the feet of attacking midfielder Anjoni Mata, Mata glanced towards the frontcourt and immediately passed a long pass directly through the Hurricanes' defense line, which had a loophole in the transition from offense to defense. , stuffing the ball to the front of the Hurricanes penalty area.
As for Willard, because he had advanced a little further just now, he was unable to get back in time. Although he was aware of Anjoni Mata's intention to directly play a long pass, and loudly called on Lucas Villaruel, Eduardo Domingos, Nervo and others to pay attention to guard against the opponent's Long pass through.
But it's too late.
Before Lucas and others could seal the passing route, Anroni Mata passed a long pass directly through the gap between them and sent the ball behind the back line.
Zamir Valroyes, who was originally swimming between midfielder Lucas and the two central defenders, immediately sprinted diagonally and changed lanes, successfully throwing away Lucas who was trying to pull him down, and passed through Eduardo Do Mingos rushed over from the outside and received a pass from Anoni Mata behind Domingos, forming a single opportunity at the front of the penalty area.
It's too fast.
Although Eduardo Domingos fought hard to defend, he still couldn't stop Zamir Valroyes from catching the ball and making a single shot. Then he took two steps and adjusted to face the attacking goalkeeper Marcos Dias. , Zamir Valroyes volleyed the ball past Dias's feet and flew into the far end goal along the turf.
Nervo, who quickly retreated from the center, rushed into the penalty area and made a flying tackle to intercept, but still failed to touch the ball and failed to make a successful clearance.
In the end, everyone could only watch in despair as the ball sailed into the far goal.
With No. 7 shadow forward Zamir Varroyes' anti-offside single shot, McNelas won the away game at Duke Thomas Stadium and led the Hurricanes 1-0.
Zamir and his teammates ran wildly to celebrate in excitement, and a small number of McNeelas away fans who traveled with the team in the stands also applauded, screamed, and shouted wildly in celebration.
The Hurricanes players, who were playing at home, felt quite desperate. The fans were also a little helpless. They could see the ball clearly in the stands. It was entirely because the opponent was too fast and couldn't stop it.
Even no one can think of any good solutions or how to deal with it, because this is a crushing advantage.
At this moment, Alan Willard took advantage of the opportunity of his opponent to celebrate and ran to the bench, and said to the head coach Mario Binco who was also very annoyed standing on the sidelines:
"Boss, Zamir Varroyes is too fast. Our central defender can't keep up, and he turns slowly, making it difficult to contain the opponent. I only retreated to the back line to see if I could barely get close to him. Stop it a little bit. Look, why don't you replace Nervo, replace him with Federico Bismara as a defensive midfielder, and leave the attack to Lucas Villaruel, and I will withdraw to the back line. Go up and play at center back?”
Mario Binco thought for a moment. If he made a substitution without injury after just 22 minutes in the first half, wouldn't it prove that the starting lineup he arranged was wrong? Is it equivalent to slapping yourself in the face in front of more than 40,000 home fans and live broadcast cameras?
But what Willard said makes sense. The Hurricanes' center backs are all high center types. Even full back Mancinelli was born as a center back. Last season, he was a center back in the 352 formation. Turn around. Slowness and slowness are the common characteristics of the Hurricanes' back line.
If he continues to play like this, and McNelas plays a through ball behind the Hurricanes' back line, won't he be beaten by Zamir Valroyes?
After a few seconds of hesitation, Mario Binco decided to go with the flow. Just be embarrassed, it's better than losing the ball.
As a result, the Hurricanes Athletics immediately made substitution adjustments, replacing No. 21 center back Nervo with No. 5 midfielder Federico Bismara and partnering with Lucas Villaruel. In the defensive midfielder, Bismara is dedicated to defense. While Lucas is defending, he also assumes the responsibility of organizing the offense from the backcourt.
Velarde, on the other hand, returned to the back line, taking Nervo's place, playing as a central defender, specifically marking Zamir Valroyes.
Nervo was not very happy when he came off the field. After all, anyone who starts the game and is replaced after just 22 minutes will not be happy. Isn't this a disguised explanation that he failed to play any role on the court and became the team's weakness and loophole, so he had to be replaced before halftime?
Fortunately, when he came down to the sidelines, Mario Binco took the initiative to grab him, gave him a hug, and said a few words of comfort to him, which made Nervo feel better.
After completing this substitution, the game restarted. Velarde, who retreated to the back line, did not disappoint Mario Binco and successfully contained Zamir Valroyes.
Although his absolute speed is still not as fast as Valroyes, he has high awareness, good agility, quick reactions, and can command his teammates to assist defense at any time according to the situation. Even if he is broken through by Valroyes, as long as his teammates are in place to help defend and hinder the opponent a little, Velarde can turn around and return to defend in place, using his superb defensive ability to steal the ball from the side.
Apart from his excellent speed, Varroyes' other skills are average, otherwise he would not have stayed in the Venezuelan league and would have been poached to Europe long ago.
Velarde's speed, height, long legs, and conscious reflexes allowed him to barely reach the opponent. Coupled with the help of his teammates, he finally stabilized the defense.
Then, the midfielder and frontcourt can start attacking with confidence and boldness.
You know, this is the home court of the Hurricanes Athletics. No matter what, they can't lose at home.
It's a pity that Lucas Villaruel's skills are still sufficient for the second division team, but when it comes to Argentina, and even the current Copa Libertadores, when facing the opponent's faster and more experienced pressing, his The speed of the ball seems to be a beat slower. Once the ball is released faster, it will affect the accuracy of the pass, and the ball will also be passed crookedly and lost.
In the 32nd minute, Alejandro Romero originally ran into a huge gap on the left wing. As long as Lucas can pass the ball, Romero can form a breakthrough from the wing, and then regardless of the next step, Whether it is a bottom pass or an inside shot, there is a great threat.
As a result, Lucas failed to pass the ball out immediately when he got the ball, but adjusted a step. By the time he adjusted a step, took a good stance, and passed the ball in the direction of Romero, it was already too late. The opponent's defensive midfielder Edgar Jimenez had seen through his passing intention, predicted the move in advance, and then intercepted the ball with a flying tackle after Lucas passed the ball, successfully grabbing the ball halfway and destroying the ball. A chance for the Hurricanes to counterattack.
Lucas Villaruel's skills and awareness are far behind Alan Velarde.
But there is nothing we can do about it. Who told Willard to have a plug-in?
