After the US team replaced Michael Bradley with No. 10 central midfielder Darlington Naby, the game continued.
Bradley's dismissal reminds Americans of the days when Velarde kept knocking people off the field in Argentina and England. Facts have proved that even though Willard is very skilled and can avoid conflicts many times, if you dare to provoke him, he is still the beast who can take people off the field.
This trick caused a certain psychological barrier for the Yankees. Then, in the 31st minute, when Villard took the ball in the middle and continued to advance, no one dared to tackle.
As for the ordinary interception, Verard used his skills and physique to go all the way, passing three people to the edge of the penalty area, and then played a wall-to-wall coordination with Higuain, breaking through the last obstacle of the US team and entering. After receiving Higuain's return pass near the penalty spot in the penalty area, he shot without stopping the ball and successfully kicked the ball into the lower left corner.
Goalkeeper Guzan pounced, but Velarde's shooting skills were too good, his angle was too tricky, his power was strong enough, and his speed was fast. Guzan was helpless and could only watch the ball go into the net in despair.
In the 31st minute, Velarde helped Argentina expand the score advantage and rewrite the score to 2-0.
With this score, the situation is developing towards the situation in the quarter-finals against Venezuela. The victory is basically guaranteed.
Therefore, Villard, who scored, celebrated with his teammates for half a minute before returning to his own half and allowing the U.S. team to kick the ball in the circle.
As the host and world hegemon, the Yankees naturally have their own pride and will not give in easily. After taking the ball from the center circle, they launched an attack on the hinterland of Argentina amid the cheers of more than 50,000 fans at home.
In the 34th minute, the US team had a good team attack through frontcourt cooperation. Finally, forward Clint Dempsey completed the shot from the penalty area line and hit the ball on the outstretched leg of defender Mori. Just formed a line-changing ball.
Argentina's players and fans were devastated, but goalkeeper Sergio Romero came to the rescue. Romero, who had already shifted his weight a little according to the direction of Clint Dempsey's shot, stopped the car abruptly, then took a step back, then suddenly pounced out, and narrowly missed Dempsey's shot with his fingertips. Bottom line.
Fortunately, Clint Dempsey's shot was not very powerful. It hit Morrie's leg and changed line, and the speed was further reduced, so Romero was given time to turn around and fight back successfully. If it had been Willard who had taken the shot, Romero probably wouldn't have been able to touch the ball.
Regardless, Sergio Romero made a great save to keep the U.S. from scoring and keep his clean sheet record from the group stage to the knockout rounds alive.
If he really keeps a clean sheet all the way to the final and wins the championship, then the Best Goalkeeper (Golden Glove) award will not be given to Romero.
Then the U.S. team's corner kick no longer posed a threat. The first point was controlled by Villard who returned to the penalty area, and he directly pushed out of the penalty area to clear the siege. The second point was grabbed by Aguero, and then Passed to Messi and almost formed a successful counterattack.
Unfortunately, Higuain started a little early. The through ball Messi tried to pass to him caused him to be offside, and the counterattack ended in vain.
But Argentina's overall advantage is still irresistible to the US team.
When the U.S. team fell behind by two goals and continued to attack and score goals, the backcourt was empty and counterattacked too many times.
In the 39th minute, Velarde took the ball in the backcourt and passed midfielder Beckman with a croquette, then made a long pass to Messi, who seemed to be walking but was actually observing the gap.
After receiving the pass, Messi didn't even have to stop the ball. He directly passed the ball diagonally and sent the ball into the gap on the left side of the front edge of the penalty area.
The American team looked at Higuain, who was already in an offside position and was standing still, thinking that the ball was no threat.
As a result, Aguero cut in at high speed from the left, overtook full-back Yedlin, successfully received Messi's pass outside the left corner of the penalty area, then dribbled the ball into the penalty area and shot.
Aguero received the ball and dribbled forward, slowing down the speed. Yedlin, who was returning to defense at high speed, blocked the space for an inward shot. As the distance from the baseline got closer and closer, Aguero's shooting angle became more and more difficult. Small, goalkeeper Guzan also blocked the near corner. Even if Aguero wanted to shoot, the probability of scoring was not high.
At this moment, Aguero looked up and glanced at Higuain, Messi and others in the middle and in the distance. He suddenly spiked the ball and made an inverted triangle pass.
Both Yedlin and Guzan were already on guard against this move, and Yedlin immediately braked and retreated, preparing to block Aguero's inverted triangle pass. Goalkeeper Guzan also quietly took a step back, preparing to return to the center to attack Higuain or Messi, Velarde and others in the back row to shoot.
As a result, Aguero turned out to be a fake move. After braking with the ball and looking back to deceive Yedlin and Guzan into losing their positions, he dropped to the left corner that seemed to be about to pass back in an inverted triangle. He awkwardly hit a volley with the instep of his left corner, and hit a volley from a small angle only 2 meters away from the baseline.
Aguero was lucky and kicked the ball through the narrow gap between the near post and goalkeeper Guzan. Goalkeeper Guzan was caught off guard and subconsciously stretched out his foot. Not only did he fail to stop the ball, but he blocked the ball before it crossed the goal line into his own goal.
However, judging from the rolling route of the ball itself, if goalkeeper Guzan did not touch the ball, the ball would eventually cross the goal line, hit the far goal post, and hit the far side net.
Therefore, the ball ended up at Aguero's feet.
In the 40th minute, Aguero scored with a volley from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area, extending the score between the two sides to 3-0, basically sealing the victory.
The Argentine fans on the scene and in front of the TV celebrated enthusiastically.
This score means that Argentina has basically won. It is impossible for the US team to complete the comeback when they are three goals behind and Argentina always has Velard on the court.
In the remaining minutes, the American team also tried to attack and struggled, but not only failed to score, but they were almost scored by Argentina's counterattack.
Unfortunately, Messi's final shot missed the post slightly due to pressure from the opponent's defender and failed to hit the goal frame.
After 2 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half. The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0-3, and Argentina temporarily led by three goals.
At halftime, Argentina replaced Messi and Higuain to prepare for the last game, and the US team also replaced a forward to prepare for the final push.
The gap of three goals is huge, but the American team cannot surrender and still has to struggle.
Therefore, after the start of the second half, the U.S. team formed an extremely high formation and launched a fierce attack into the hinterland of Argentina, and the fight became more intense.
But this state only lasted for more than ten minutes. Not only did the US team fail to score, but they suffered a quick counterattack from Argentina in the 58th minute.
Willard broke through with the ball on the right, passed two people and then cut inward with the ball. He dribbled horizontally like Robben. After opening a shooting space on the right side of the front edge of the penalty area, he hit a shot from the left corner. He recorded a perfect arc shot, bypassing the defender in front of him and goalkeeper Guzan, and sent the ball into the goal against the far post.
Velarde scored twice to help Argentina expand the score to 4-0 and completely seal the victory.
This score was already in the second half again, with just over half an hour left. It was impossible for the American team to complete a comeback when trailing by so many goals.
Therefore, Velarde's goal not only gave Argentine players and fans reassurance, but also made the Americans despair.
As forwards, Clint Dempsey, Ondolovski and others still want to attack and score goals. Even if they cannot reverse the comeback, they still have to score a goal or two to save some face.
You know, Argentina has not conceded even a goal since the group stage! As long as the U.S. team can score a goal against Argentina, it won't be too embarrassing.
The players in the midfield and backfield have completely given up. They just want to keep the goal and not concede more goals. Just go from a big defeat to a disastrous defeat.
Therefore, in the remaining games, although the American team also attacked, the number was too small and disorganized, so naturally there was no threat.
On defense, because the players in the midfield and backfield were more united and worked harder, and did not want to lose the ball again, they persisted for a long time.
However, Velarde needed to gain experience in the America's Cup, so he did not give up at all. After all, he used a team attack in the 87th minute, and finally received a pass from Lamela on the line of the penalty area and volleyed a heavy shot. The world wave sent the ball into the door of the US team like a cannonball.
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"It's Alan Willard again!"
"hat trick!"
"Villade completed a hat trick against the United States, helping Argentina expand the score to 5-0, completely killing all suspense in the game."
"Argentina is about to beat the United States and advance to the final."
"From the group stage to the semi-finals, Argentina didn't concede a single goal, and they all won at least 3-0 or more."
"This defense, this offense, it's just desperate."
"Obviously, as a free man with all-round offensive and defensive capabilities, Velarde has improved Argentina's offensive and defensive performance by more than one level."
"Argentina won this America's Cup much more easily than the last one last year. On the one hand, it is due to the improvement of Velarde's personal strength, and on the other hand, it is obvious that Velarde has integrated into the national team more easily."
"More importantly, Velarde originally played as a defensive midfielder, but now he has been transformed into a free agent by Liverpool. The Argentina national team has continued Liverpool's use of Velarde and achieved great success."
"In this state, no matter who reaches the final in the other semi-final, it will be very difficult to challenge Argentina."
"Not to mention 100%, Argentina's probability of winning the final and winning the championship is at least 80%."
