In a La Liga match last night, Atletico Madrid, who had suffered four consecutive la Liga defeats, finally ushered in a victory, with Angel Correa scoring twice, the team won 2-0 against Vallecano. Simeone's face finally showed a long-lost smile, and Argentine compatriot Correa, who had been with the team for more than five years, stepped forward at the moment when the "boss" needed it most, repaying Simeone's trust many years ago.
In the past 5 years, Atletico has scored correa's first goal in the New Year for 3 years, and it can be said that he is the lucky star of the team. In a post-match interview over Rayo Vallecano, he said he was very happy to help the team get off to 2022 with goals and was always ready to give the best of himself to the team and the coach.
Yes, Atletico and Simone were never a "workplace" and boss for Correa, but more like another warm home and family.
Cardiac tumors are examined physically
In the summer of 2014, Atletico announced a transfer deal with Correa, a 20-year-old talented player in San Lorenzo in Argentina, when media reported a transfer fee of $8 million. Correa at that time, has shown his talent in Argentina and South America, delivering 9 assists in 16 games in the final stage of the A-League that season, and the Copa Libertadores also reached the final four with the team as the main force, contributing 2 goals and 2 assists in 9 games.
Originally, this signing was a huge surprise for Correa, going to play for the European giants, the head coach is still a compatriot Argentine, and his future looks bright.
However, life can't always be smooth, and you never know what the next bowl of noodles will taste like.
After reaching an agreement with Atletico, Correa was diagnosed with a benign tumor in the right ventricle of the heart during a medical examination at an Argentine hospital, and he had to undergo surgery, otherwise his life would probably be threatened in the future.
Unexpectedly, Correa's first reaction at that time was that he did not want to have surgery, because he wanted to play with San Lorenzo in the next Semi-final of the Copa Libertadores, which shows how much he loves football. In the end, however, reason prevailed, although not being able to participate in the semi-finals was painful for him.
Then there's the issue of surgery. Simone admired Correa, and the Atletico club provided all the necessary support for Correa's surgery, correa, who had never left Argentina, went abroad for the first time to Go to New York, USA, and atletico team doctors also flew there from Spain to accompany Correa to complete the operation, all of which were funded by Atletico.
It is worth mentioning that this operation is actually also risky, and the attending doctor said that there will be a certain risk that Correa will not be able to play football in the future, and Correa still has palpitations. Fortunately, God took care of Correa, and the operation was successful, but Correa was away from the field for nearly 200 days.
During the surgery and rehabilitation period, Correa was very touched by atletico and Simeone's care, and Correa mentioned it countless times in later interviews.
The loss of a father at an early age, a tragic childhood
As a child Correa lived in the Flores district of Argentina, a slum. Just like his idol Tevez grew up in a bad environment, his childhood environment was full of drugs and violence. Correa died when he was 10 years old, and two of his brothers died a few years later. So since childhood, Correa has been dependent on her mother.
Correa put it this way about those years: "When I was a kid living in the Flores district of Argentina, a lot of us were taking drugs, including cocaine. We have a lot of poor people in that place who will use drugs and commit crimes. Almost the entire neighborhood is drugged, including my brother. But I always said to myself, I'll never touch drugs and I'll dedicate my life to football. ”
"Premier League World" did a show that year, interviewing Tevez's childhood friends in Argentina, they said that at that time, Tevez's good friend, football talent is much higher than Tevez, but in the end the genius fell into the vortex of drugs and gangsters, and eventually died on the street.
Yes, despite the hardships of life, Correa is full of love, self-discipline and dreams for football, and he has also shown talent in the neighborhood and play with his friends. At the age of 12, he was drafted by San Lorenzo to join the club's youth team. With outstanding talent, Correa also made a smooth promotion to the first team and made a name for himself in Argentina, while his debut goal was scored against Boca Juniors.
2015 South Youth Tournament Crowned King
Correa's recovery was also smooth after surgery in 2014, with Atletico and Correa signing in January 2015, which also showed that Correa had fully recovered from heart surgery.
Correa's comeback is not an adult team competition, but a South American U-20 youth championship. On 14 January 2015, Correa finally made a comeback, and in the first group stage match against the Ecuadorian youth team, Correa showed his dominance, scoring 1 goal and assisting 2 times to help the team win 5-2.
In the following matches, Correa maintained a very high level of play, against the Brazilian U-20 team with Kennedy and Gabriel Barbosa, Correa provided assists for teammate Rolong. In the final against Uruguay, Argentina scored a deadside goal in the 81st minute of the match with Correa scoring the title.
The assist for Correa was Giovanni Simeone, the son of Atletico boss Simone. Simeone was also watching the match in Spain, and Correa's goal was even more exciting, when he took a selfie specifically to the tv game screen.
With 4 goals and 4 assists in 8 games, Correa announced his strong comeback with the honor of champion of the Southern Youth Championship and the best player of the tournament.
In the second half of the season, Correa's main focus was on preparing for the Summer World Youth Championships, he did not play with Atletico in La Liga, and his La Liga debut did not come until the 2015-16 season. Although the Argentine U-20 team, the South American champion U-20 team did not play satisfactorily at the World Youth Championship in the summer of 2015 and was eliminated early in the group stage, Correa was never such a lucky person, and life always gave him some blows.
Missed the World Cup and risked joining AC Milan
Although after joining Atletico, Correa was appreciated by Simeone and was given a large number of appearances in his early 20s. But to be fair, Correa's physique, physical fitness and style are not so suitable for Atletico's system, and as a technical frontcourt player, his continuous high-intensity running, strength and counter-attack ability are all weaknesses.
So even though Correa has been able to consistently contribute five or six goals and five or six assists in the league every season, he has never been an absolute mainstay of the team. So even though he was first selected for the Argentina senior national team in September 2015 and made his debut in his debut, he has never been welcomed by the national team manager, and he has not been selected for the final roster several times in the Copa America and the 2018 World Cup. Last year's Copa America was correa's first senior national team competition, but he only made two substitute appearances in the group stage for a total of only 73 minutes.
However, the young coach Scaloni is still optimistic about Correa, even if he has little playing time for Correa, but at least now he will call up Correa every time he plays in the national team. The author believes that correa should be selected for this year's World Cup.
In the second half of 2018, Correa expressed some of his dissatisfaction with the position and playing time, in an interview with ESPN, he said: "Being close to the opponent's box will make me feel more comfortable, which will make me have a greater threat to the opponent, but Simeone feels that I should play in midfield, and if I play in midfield, I have to sacrifice some of my offensive opportunities to help the team defend." A lot of times, I have to go back and destroy the other side's offense, which is very tiring. ”
However, at that time, he had an in-depth conversation with Simeone, and finally dispelled the idea of leaving the team, "I talked to Simeone, Atletico is a great team, so he will help me grow step by step. Just like other players, I want to play all my games. I want to continue my good momentum this year. ”
But Correa has always been torn between personal development and love for Atletico and Simone's affection. In the summer of 2019, Correa wanted to leave the team to join AC Milan due to atletico's inability to move further in terms of the team's tactical position and offensive contribution, and he was really close to leaving the team at that time.
However, in the end, Correa stayed at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Correa said last year: "That's true, I was very close to joining AC Milan. Simone didn't hold me back, he said if I stayed, it would be fine, if I left, it would be fine. But then I thought that I was now playing in a metropolis like Madrid, wearing the number 10 shirt, and I thought about staying. ”
Achieved 300 Atletico games
Last night's La Liga match against Vallecano was Correa's 300th official match for Atletico. Remember that in 2019, when Correa completed atletico 200, the club once filmed a feature film for him in an interview.
Correa said that when he was 14 years old, his agent gave him a Atletico shirt, which he loved at the time. And when his heart was tested, Atletico helped him in the most difficult moments of his life, and he always remembered that he would always be grateful to Atletico.
Under Simeone's hands, after 300 games, Correa's own improvement is naturally not small, and now he runs more smartly on the field, and after the adaptation of the forward, second striker, winger, full-back and wing, Correa has adapted to various positions and tactics in the frontcourt, "Simone knows where I like to play. But if he asks me to play at the back later, I won't have a problem with it either. I would never question the coach, and Simeone knew it. I've always wanted to play in the position I'm best at in the first few years, and I think I'm the best player to score goals besides the centre forward, but nothing has changed. It took me a long time to adjust to where I am now. ”
After a year and a half ago, Correa has become more determined to stick to the Atletico family, his love for the club is getting deeper and deeper, and his performance this season is getting better and better, with 6 goals and 4 assists in the league halfway, and he is likely to achieve the breakthrough of the first goal in the league in a single season.
With Suarez in the middle of a goal drought, Felix always unstable, Griezmann injured and dragged on to adapt, will Correa become the team's new striker leader in the second half? Let's wait and see for Atletico 10. (Supine Braces/Qiu Yixi)