In the 4th minute, Alejandro Romero made a cross from the wing and assisted Velard in scoring a header. Atletico Hurricanes led Asunción Guaraní 1-0.
You know, this is only the 4th minute of the game. Due to the weather, both sides made many mistakes, so this was also the first attack for both sides.
This is a real lightning goal.
Therefore, as Velarde scored with a header, all the home fans in the entire Thomas Duke Stadium raised their arms and cheered excitedly. Many people even threw away their umbrellas and other rain gear and clapped and celebrated in the rain.
Argentinian commentators supporting the Hurricanes also shouted excitedly:
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Willard!"
"Alan Willard!"
"He rushed into the penalty area, jumped high, and hit the goal with a powerful header. He headed the ball into the goal of Guaraní in Asunción, helping Atletico Hurricanes open the scoring and lead 1-0."
"This is only the fourth minute of the game. This is a real lightning goal."
"When everyone questioned the status of Velarde and the Hurricanes before the game, it only took Velarde 4 minutes to make all doubts disappear."
"Obviously, Velarde is back to his best."
"He told everyone with a lightning goal in the first 4 minutes why he became the top scorer in the America's Cup."
In the first 4 minutes of the game, he scored a goal with a header. Velarde was also quite surprised. After landing, he opened his arms and ran to the sidelines. His teammates gathered around him to hug him and celebrate.
After scoring the first goal, the rest of the game completely entered the rhythm of Hurricane Athletics.
You know, in the Copa America semi-finals, Argentina beat Paraguay 7-1, and Velarde also scored the first hat-trick of his career in that game. Among the opponents in this game, there is also an old rival of Velarde, Jorge Mendoza.
Mendoza originally entered the game with the intention of revenge against Velarde, but he was hit in the head just 4 minutes into the game.
In the next game, Jorge Mendoza, who wore the No. 10 jersey and was the core organizer of Guaraní in Asunción, tried his best to score goals or assists. Even if he could not defeat Atletico Hurricanes, he still wanted to help. The team scored an away goal.
But under the joint defense of Velarde and Bismara, and the support of the back line, Jorge Mendoza was basically unable to do anything against the Hurricanes' defense, and it was not until the 34th minute that a goal was passed A wonderful pass, but Guarani forward Nestor Camacho missed Mendoza's wonderful pass off the post, wasting Mendoza's wonderful pass assist.
After Guarani Asunción failed to capitalize on its chance for several minutes, Atlético Huracán did take advantage in the 39th minute.
Velarde was more active in this game and frequently pushed forward, so he was strictly guarded by Guaraní of Asunción. As a result, the attack in the 39th minute was put to good use by Willard.
After receiving the pass from his teammate, he did not pass it out in time. Instead, he controlled the ball at his feet and attracted three players to press him. Then he passed the ball to the full-back and captain Manci who was on the wing. Nellie.
Then, Mancinelli stepped in from the right and hit the wall twice with Turaza and Avila. Then he cut inside and passed back into the penalty area. Midfielder Toranso met the ball and shot angrily, knocking him down. The last center back Juan Patinho and goalkeeper Alfredo.
But Toranso did not actually shoot. Instead, he raised his foot and missed the ball into the gap on the left side of the penalty area.
Alejandro Romero inserted into the penalty area from the left side and shot the ball furiously. This time was the real shot, and goalkeeper Alfredo had been knocked down by Toranso. When he got up again and wanted to save, he happened to slip because the ground was slippery, and he couldn't even make the save. Watching the ball fly into the goal.
In the 39th minute, Alejandro Romero scored a goal in the penalty area, helping the Hurricanes expand the score to 2-0.
This score greatly increases the probability of Hurricane Athletics advancing to the finals. However, this is the first round after all, and it is still at home. The second round will be played away, so there is still some risk in whether or not we can advance.
Therefore, since there is still time, Hurricanes Athletics still wants to continue scoring goals. However, there was not much time left in the first half. In the end, neither side scored, and the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
After a 15-minute intermission, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. The Hurricanes relied on their two-goal lead to stabilize their defense and wait for opportunities to counterattack.
After all, Ascension Guarani is two goals behind and still wants to score a goal to gain the away goal advantage. In this way, they only need a 1-0 win in the next round to defeat Atletico Hurricanes and advance with the away goal advantage. It's the finals.
Therefore, even though they knew that the Hurricanes were planning to counterattack, they had no choice but to press forward and try to score a goal.
However, the Hurricanes' defense was very good. Although Velarde frequently moved forward to participate in the offense, he was still very quick to return to defense when he did not have the ball. The key is that he has a good sense of when to advance forward and attack and when to defend. He makes very accurate judgments and rarely loses his position to be taken advantage of by his opponents.
Asunción Guarani's offense has been unable to achieve any results. Instead, the Hurricanes Athletic Team, led by Velarde, frequently counterattacked to threaten Asunción Guarani's goal.
Although there were many mistakes and low offensive efficiency due to the venue, the Hurricane Athletics completely secured the victory in the 74th minute of the second half.
This was a long shot from Velarde after receiving a pass from Turaça outside the penalty area, which was extremely powerful. Although the angle was not tricky enough, goalkeeper Alfredo saved it. But because of his great strength, Alfredo let go when he pounced on the ball. The ball bounced from his hand into the penalty area and was picked up by forward Avila who rushed into the penalty area.
Avila rushed over and kicked the ball into the goal.
Hurricane Athletics expanded the score to 3-0, basically sealing the victory.
It would be fine if it were other teams, but with Velarde as a defensive hero in the Hurricanes Athletics, it would be very difficult and almost impossible for the opponent to come back from three goals behind.
The rest of the game also proved everyone's suspicions. Asunción Guarani followed up with a desperate counterattack, trying to score away goals and retain the possibility of a comeback after returning to home in the second round.
But until the end of the game, Asuncion Guarani failed to score even a goal. On the contrary, the Hurricanes still had the possibility of scoring a counterattack until the end of the game, but they were just a little bit unlucky. In the end, Willard's long shot slipped out and failed to score twice.
In the end, Atletico Hurricanes beat Asunción Guaraní 3-0 at home, basically ending the suspense in the second round of the semifinals.
The probability of Atletico Hurricanes advancing to the Copa Libertadores final this season is already quite high.
