The first half lasted for more than half an hour, but neither side had scored a goal. However, both sides have entered the game state, the rhythm has begun to pick up, and the fighting and collision have begun to become fierce.
Finally, when the time came to the 39th minute, Argentina played a good teamwork. Velarde, Mascherano, and Di Maria made continuous triangular passes from the right to penetrate the Brazilian team's defense. Finally, Di Maria passed a ground ball from the side of the penalty area.
The passing and cutting cooperation of Velarde, Di Maria and others has attracted most of the Brazilian team's defense. Higuain's movement in the front point attracted the attention of the final defender and goalkeeper. As a result, Di Maria The ball passed behind Higuain. Not only did Higuain fail to grab the first point, but he also swayed defender David Luiz and goalkeeper Alisson Becker who were closely marking him.
The ball rolled past Higuain and rolled to the left corner of the small penalty area. Left winger Lavezzi got ahead of full-back Alves, pushed the ball without stopping with almost no interference, and pushed the ball steadily into the near corner of the goal.
Goalkeeper Alisson was swayed by Higuain's movement in front of him. He was a step too late to retreat and failed to touch the ball. In the end, he could only watch the ball pass diagonally under his palm and roll into the goal.
Being able to take the lead in breaking the deadlock in a dialogue with a strong enemy like Brazil, even if the goal came belatedly, Argentina's commentators were still very excited:
"The ball went in!!!"
"Lavich!"
"Di Maria's cross from the wing, Higuain's movement from the front attracted the attention of the Brazilian team's defender and goalkeeper."
"Lavezzi pushed the ball into the goal with almost no interference from the back post."
"Argentina finally opened the scoring and took the lead."
"I hope the players can withstand the Brazilian team's counterattack and win in the end."
It's hard to say whether they can win the whole game, but the first half was basically stable because there was too little time left for the Brazilian team.
Although the Brazilian team counterattacked wildly in the remaining minutes, trying to penetrate Argentina's defense and equalize the score, but after Velarde retreated, Argentina actually had a defense line of 4 defenders and 3 midfielders. In addition, Velarde was strong and comprehensive. Despite its defensive capabilities, the Brazilian team's offense has never posed much of a threat.
Neymar once again tried to break through Velarde with his bicycle, but Velarde directly stole the ball and took it away.
Velarde's 90-level physique, awareness, speed, and defensive ability cannot be blocked. Although Neymar's dribbling and breakthrough ability is not low, he is quite different in terms of physique. Willard can basically snatch the ball away as soon as he grabs the blocking position. Even if he cannot snatch it away, he can still cause great damage, or Slow down Neymar's breakthrough speed.
After 1 minute of stoppage time, referee Arias blew the whistle to end the first half. The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 1-0. Argentina, playing at home, temporarily led by one goal.
After a 15-minute rest, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. The Brazilian team, which was lagging behind, naturally increased its offensive intensity.
As the Brazilian team that has won the most World Cup championships, even though many of the players in the team are players that Velarde doesn't know or have heard of, their skills are indeed incredible. Those who can stand out from millions of players all over Brazil and become the national team have their own skills.
In the 63rd minute of the second half, midfielder Lucas Lima suddenly showed his strength. He first hit the wall with William and broke through Mascherano's interception. Then he faced the attacking center back Otamendi and touched the ball first. A Marseille spin smoothly left Otamendi behind, then drove the ball into the penalty area, smashed the ball past another central defender Mori and then volleyed into the lower right corner of the goal to score.
Velarde had been marking Neymar before and was helpless against Lucas Lima's surprise attack. When Lucas shot, Velarde caught up to the line of the penalty area. He couldn't even cause foul interference and could only watch Lucas Lima score.
The Brazilian team also scored, leveling the score at 1-1, and the two sides returned to the same starting line. The Brazilian fans at the scene and in front of the TV applauded Lucas Lima for scoring, while the Argentinian players and fans seemed a little helpless.
Lucas Lima did perform very well in this attack, and his technical strength was no worse than Neymar's, so he caught Argentina off guard.
Of course, any goal involves luck or extraordinary performance. If you lose the ball, just stabilize the defense and try to score and regain the lead.
After the game restarted, Velarde stepped up his defense against Lucas Lima, and Neymar lost the ball to his teammate Mascherano.
After all, Neymar mostly moves on the wing, and Mascherano can interfere with him. After he broke through Mascherano's defense with the ball, it was not too late for Velarde to intercept after moving to the middle. And midfielder Lucas Lima is the one facing off against Velarde.
What's more, the opponent is in such good shape in this game, so Willard needs to take more precautions.
Facts have proved that Willard's decision was correct. After scoring the goal, Lucas Lima's confidence was greatly increased. In the 74th minute, he repeated his old tricks. He first hit the wall with his teammates to break through Willard's interception, and then used Matthews to pass through another player. When defensive midfielder Banega tried to dodge center back Otamendi and shoot, luckily Velarde had already returned to defense at high speed and made a precise tackle from the side to destroy the ball.
Although Lucas Lima was tripped by Velarde, the referee thought it was a good goal and did not give the Brazilian team a free kick.
Although Lucas Lima was in great form, Velarde was strong enough and his overall quality was among the best in football. Coupled with the help of his teammates in defense, Lucas Lima finally stopped shooting as threateningly as before. Come.
Argentina also tried to counterattack when they continued to gain the ball, score goals, and regain the lead.
After several failures, Argentina finally broke through Brazil's defense in the 86th minute.
This attack was also initiated by Velarde. After he also used technology to break through Lucas Lima's defense, he and his teammates played a wall-to-wall coordination to bypass Gustavo's defense, and then split sides. Lavezzi, who was on the left side, rushed into the penalty area to fight for the top.
In the end, Velarde really grabbed the first point and headed Lavezzi's pass towards the goal. Unfortunately, the angle was too direct and was blocked by goalkeeper Alisson's subconscious save.
Fortunately, Alisson was unable to save the ball from the bottom line or directly control it. Instead, he let go and landed in the small penalty area. Higuain, who has quick eyes and quick feet, got ahead of defender David Luiz who was trying to clear the ball and kicked the ball into the goal with a kick.
Argentina finally scored again and regained the lead over Brazil 2-1.
Velarde was unlucky and failed to score, but instead contributed to Higuain, allowing Higuain to score a supplementary goal.
Fortunately, you can also win prizes if you win the game.
Therefore, after the game restarted, facing the Brazilian team's crazy counterattack, Velarde also tried his best to defend and block. In addition, head coach Martino made timely substitutions to delay time while strengthening defense.
In the end, after the referee blew the final whistle, the Brazilian team failed to score the equalizing goal. Argentina defeated the Brazilian team 2-1 at home and won the third round of the World Cup preliminaries.
