Argentina is now leading the score. Martino's ideal situation is for Velarde and Mascherano to partner with a double midfielder to stabilize the defense, and then use Messi and Di Maria's dribbling to break through the organization and passing ability. Help Aguero score another goal and seal the victory.
In the 68th minute of the second half, Argentina made a substitution. No. 8 Alan Velarde came on, replacing No. 19 Evo Banega.
Amid the expectant applause of Crisina, Alyssa, Bertha, Desia and the Argentinian fans, Velarde and Banega exchanged high-fives and embarked on the first official match of the 2015 America's Cup. of the stadium.
The commentators in Argentina said with great expectation:
"Martino made a substitution adjustment and replaced No. 19 Evo Banega with No. 8 Alan Velarde."
"Argentina changed into a 4231 double defensive midfielder formation. This is to avoid its edge and seek stability."
"After all, Paraguay is in a very strong state right now, and it's easy to make mistakes when playing against each other."
"Alan Willard is a super star who has emerged in the A-League this season. In the eyes of professionals, Willard's defensive ability is no worse than Mascherano's, and his offensive ability is even better than Mascherano's. In a few streets, he can be compared with the top strikers."
"Such a super midfielder with all-round offensive and defensive capabilities is the trump card that Argentina has the most high hopes for in this America's Cup."
"The only problem may be Willard's qualifications and competition experience. I don't know if Willard can adapt to the first international competition like the America's Cup."
"Argentina has been away from the World Series championship for 20 years. Whether Argentina can break this curse this year, in addition to the performance of Messi, Di Maria and others, depends on whether the newly recruited Alan Velarde can perform It worked.”
"I hope that Velarde's playing will improve the hardness of Argentina's defense and the organization ability in the backcourt. While stabilizing the defense, it can also help the frontcourt score goals, truly seal the victory, and help Argentina get off to a good start."
The problems that Argentine commentators and fans were worried about did not arise. It was indeed the first time for Velarde to participate in the America's Cup, so he did not rush to perform, but firmly guarded his defense zone, and together with Mascherano, Guard Argentina's midfield tightly.
When Argentina played a 433 formation, they only had Mascherano as a defensive midfielder, and it was a configuration of two full-backs and three forwards. Mascherano was really unable to defend alone. Moreover, he had just finished the Champions League final, flew back to South America after a long journey, and immediately started the game. It is understandable that he was a little weak.
After Verard came on the field, he defended carefully because he was playing in the America's Cup for the first time, which indeed greatly made up for Mascherano's lack of physical fitness.
Velarde's powerful physique, physical fitness, speed, heading, skills, consciousness, etc. can greatly relieve Mascherano's pressure. The two of them cover most of the defensive zone in the midfield and backcourt, allowing Paraguay to No matter how good he is, he can no longer easily penetrate into Argentina's penalty area.
It has to be said that Gerardo Martino's substitutions and formation adjustments were inadvertently in line with Willard's cautious mentality in participating in a major event for the first time. If Willard is allowed to participate in the offense and entrusted with important tasks when he comes on the field, there may really be problems.
On the contrary, in the midfielder defensive position where he is good at, Velarde was at ease in the task and completed the task well. Through the game, he eased the nervousness of his mental and physical muscles, and with his mature psychological quality, he slowly devoted himself to the game.
Even the commentators nodded repeatedly:
"After Alan Willard came on, he firmly defended his defensive zone and did not easily advance forward to participate in the attack."
"This is inconsistent with his performance in recent games in the A-League, and also inconsistent with everyone's expectations of him."
"But actually, I think this is the best choice. On the one hand, Argentina still leads 2-1 and has no urgent need to score."
"On the other hand, through the playing style and position that Velard is accustomed to, he can slowly adapt to the nervousness of playing in the America's Cup for the first time."
"We can see that as the game progresses, Velarde has gradually adapted to the rhythm of the game, and has become more and more skilled in cooperating with Mascherano's defense. He has also begun to take the ball and participate in offensive organization."
"Once Villard fully adapts to the rhythm of the game, it may be time for Villard to show off his offensive talents in addition to defense."
As the commentators said, after more than ten minutes of the game, especially after two head-to-head collisions with the opponent and gaining the upper hand, Villard gradually adapted to the rhythm of the game physically and mentally and began to become more comfortable. .
After all, the various abilities and attributes given by the system are actually so high. After adapting to the game, they began to show their power.
In the 85th minute, Villard suddenly moved forward with the ball, and after hitting the wall with Di Maria on the wing, he sent the ball into the penalty area.
Aguero received the ball with his back to the attacking direction and knocked back. Messi stepped into the gap and hit the goal on the right side of the front edge of the penalty area. His left foot arced and shot into the far corner.
Unfortunately, the arc of the ball was not wide enough. Although it avoided the goalkeeper's save, the ball ended up flying close to the post and out of the baseline.
Although the ball did not go in, it was one of the few threatening shots that Argentina had in the second half against Paraguay's crazy counterattack. Therefore, the Argentine fans in the stands and in front of the TV, although sighing, still applauded Messi's shot.
In this attack, Villard suddenly moved forward with the ball and made a wonderful pass into the penalty area, which was also recognized by everyone. Even Messi was walking back and gave a thumbs up to Velard, who was more than ten meters away, to express his approval for his sudden forward assist.
Although Messi's shot shocked Paraguay, after all, they are still behind. As the game time went by, Paraguay had no choice but to increase its offensive intensity, hoping to score a second goal and equalize the score before the end of the game.
In the 89th minute, Paraguay created a good killing opportunity by breaking through from the wing and passing the ball in an inverted triangle.
However, Velarde understood the opponent's intention, and with his superhuman speed, he rushed over in time to block the hole of the gun, and passed the opponent's No. 15 midfielder Victor Cáceres on the line of the penalty area after receiving an inverted triangle pass from his teammate. The heavy artillery volley blocked the baseline and defused the opponent's threatening shot.
Velarde's risk-free flying to block the hole of the gun won unanimous applause from the Argentine fans in the stands and in front of the TV.
In the remaining minutes, Gerardo Martino removed Di Maria again and replaced him with a defensive full midfielder to continue to strengthen the defense.
In the end, Paraguay failed to score again until the end of the game.
Argentina finally defeated Paraguay 2-1 and got a good start in the first match of the 2015 Chilean America's Cup. With the same goal difference, Argentina defeated Uruguay and ranked first in the Group B standings by relying on the goal advantage.
