After receiving the news that the club and Velarde had successfully renewed their contract and that Velarde would not leave this summer, Hurricanes fans were immediately overjoyed and rushed to tell each other.
"It's great, Velarde is not leaving for the time being and will at least finish the season."
"Villade is so awesome. As a defensive midfielder, he took the assists, top scorers and top scorers in the Copa America. With him, we performed the miracle of winning the title as a newly promoted team and won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in history. It’s all hopeful.”
"It's great, the club is smart."
"Thank you to Velarde for staying and helping us win the AFC Champions League or the Copa Libertadores. I won't blame him for leaving next year."
"Yes, the final stage for South America's top players is Europe, and Willard will eventually leave. But it would be great if he can help us win one or two major championships before leaving."
"I hope we can win the double crown of Argentina and Copa Libertadores this year. That would be perfect."
"Yes, looking forward to it."
The team is naturally very excited about the news of Willard's successful contract extension.
Everyone knows that Velarde is the core and thigh of this team. Without Velarde, let alone competing for the championship, there is no doubt whether they can avoid relegation.
Willard successfully renewed his contract and continues to fight side by side with everyone in the league and Copa Libertadores in the second half of the season. Only then will everyone have the confidence to continue fighting and win the championship.
Under such circumstances, on July 11, the 16th round of the A-League, which was also the first home game of the second half of the season, the Thomas Duke Stadium was completely full, packed with countless people holding banners, slogans, and portraits to support Velarde. Hurricanes fans and fans, even thousands of fans, were unable to purchase tickets and were kept out of the stadium.
During the warm-up before the game, Willard was very moved when he saw the fans shouting his name and supporting him in the stands, and felt that he made the right choice to stay.
People have feelings.
As for Europe, as long as it has system plug-ins, it will eventually go there and conquer it. But here is his starting point, the first stop for his journey through time and rebirth. Being able to leave his mark here and leaving a little memory for these lovely fans will be a spiritual wealth when he recalls it when he gets old. .
At 20:30 on the evening of July 11, with the referee's whistle, the match between Hurricanes VS Defenders in the 16th round of the 2015 A-League officially began at the packed Thomas Duke Stadium.
After playing 15 rounds in the first half of the season, the defenders were only ranked fourth from the bottom. They only won 2 games in 15 league rounds. They were weak and absolutely weak.
What's more, the Defenders were playing away from home in this game, and the Hurricanes Athletics had 10,000 reasons to win at home, and a big win at that.
However, the Hurricane Athletic Team did not underestimate the enemy because of this, but sent all its main players to play.
Precisely because the opponent is the fourth-to-last relegation team, in the second half of the season, the relegation team will have to work harder and harder to beat. Moreover, Mario Binco does not know what the strength and status of both sides are like after a vacation.
Therefore, he sent out all the main players to fight. He must win this game and get a good start in the second half of the season.
It has to be said that Mario Binco’s caution is justified.
After a wasted holiday, and in addition to losing to the second-division team Independiente Mendoza in the first Argentine Cup game of the second half of the season, Atletico Hurricanes were in average shape in this game and failed to produce any threatening offense.
On the contrary, it was an away game, and the defenders who needed to avoid relegation played very hard, investing heavily in the offense, trying to avoid Velarde's interception through passing and cutting, and then hitting the penalty area or taking long shots outside the penalty area.
In the 23rd minute, defender forward Julio Rodriguez received a cross from his teammate in the penalty area and took the first shot, almost breaking the Hurricanes' goal.
Fortunately, goalkeeper Marcos Dias was lucky and had accurate positioning. He just jumped up and lifted the ball over the crossbar. Although the ball didn't go in, it still scared the fans of the Hurricanes players at home.
After experiencing this dangerous situation, Velarde saw that everyone was in poor condition, and immediately called on Alejandro Romero, Toranso, and Turaza in the frontcourt to retreat sharply, and first used intensive defense to guard the opponent. Let’s wait until the defense line is stabilized.
For the Hurricanes Athletic Team, which is ranked first in the A-League, it is extremely embarrassing to shrink its defense at home and use a bus and iron barrel array to deal with the fourth-to-last defender in away games.
Head coach Mario Binco did not give such instructions before the game.
But it doesn't matter to Willard, he is a triumphalist and he doesn't see the benefit of offensive football that can't win. Wenger was indeed beautiful when he led Arsenal to an undefeated season and the title. But after several years without a trophy, Willard didn't like Arsenal's beautiful football.
In this game, since one's side is in poor condition and the opponent is desperate enough, it is appropriate to shrink the defense first, use the numerical advantage to set up a bus and iron barrel formation to defend the goal, and then slowly make adjustments and counterattacks.
Although this was an instruction given by Willard privately and not by the head coach, the teammates still listened to his instructions, retracted across the board, and adopted a defensive posture to stabilize the defense.
In the rest of the first half, the defenders really failed to create any threat under the intensive defense of the Hurricanes. After all, there are no top superstars like Messi and Ronaldo in their team who can advance alone. Facing the intensive defense of the Hurricanes Athletics, they had no good solution. Even if it's a long shot, he doesn't have that good shooting technique.
Finally, the Hurricanes ran out of time in the first half and the two sides tied at 0-0. Although the scene was not pretty, fortunately the Hurricanes did not concede a goal.
At halftime, Mario Binco replaced Lucas Villaruel with Federico Bismara, who had better defensive ability, and Fabianesi replaced Alex Andro Romero, strengthens the defense, and then unleashes Velarde's forward attacking ability.
This move really paid off in the second half.
In the second half of the game, the Hurricanes continued to play defensive counterattacks, attracting defenders to attack.
The defenders, who needed points to avoid relegation, did not disappoint. As expected, they continued to attack aggressively, but suffered a fatal blow from Hurricanes Athletics in the 73rd minute.
It was Alan Willard who sent the assist.
When his teammates successfully intercepted the ball, he moved forward decisively, ran into the gap without the ball, received a pass from defender Nervo, and then used a beautiful Marseille spin to break through the attacking midfielder Fabio. · Alvarez, then passed a long pass through the defender's back line.
Forward Avila understood the idea and rushed between the two central defenders. He succeeded in countering offside. After receiving Velarde's through ball, he formed a single shot. He dribbled the ball outside the penalty area and faced the attacking goalkeeper with a lob. Easily hit the ball into the goal.
This was also the only goal scored by both teams in the entire game.
In the end, Hurricane Athletics narrowly defeated the Defenders 1-0 at home and got a good start in the second half of the season. Although the process was thrilling and difficult, we still achieved three points in the end, which was a good start.
Later, it will be up to Willard and his teammates to strengthen joint training, restore their condition, and then compete for the championship on both fronts.
