Antonio Valencia played an official match after ten months. He played 90 minutes on the field and wore the captain's armband for Querétaro last Sunday in his debut in the 2021 Clausura tournament. His club lost 3-1 away to Toluca. Gallos Blancos "made their debut with the 'left foot spur', suffered for not executing the style of play that Héctor Altamirano seeks in his players, and the refereeing negatively influenced the feathered result," said the newspaper AM yesterday, from Querétaro.
In his first match in Mexican soccer, the level of the former Manchester United player divided the sports journalism. The reproaches against the referee were unanimous: "Referee Adalida Maganda 'stabbed' Querétaro by prejudicing them with his decisions. He wrongly disallowed a goal and then did not grant them a clear penalty," said Ovaciones. This type of accusation is repeated in all Mexican media outlets.
For AM "the 'creative triangle' formed by Antonio Valencia, Ángel Sepúlveda, and Kevin Ramírez was the origin of the clearest dangerous plays for Gallos Blancos in the first half; 43% of Querétaro's attacks occurred in this area. The two goals scored by the Querétaro team were born in this sector, one did not enter the scoreboard due to VAR disallowance."
He attempted 28 passes, of which 24 were successful, says ESPN.
It is added: "Martín Rea was the man in charge of covering Valencia's exits on the right flank. Valencia is vital to generate attack and ball possession for the Querétaro team. His presence on the right flank was decisive for the visitors. On the other hand, Jefferson Montero could not show his quality. He played only 50 minutes and did not have the offensive alternatives offered by Valencia, Ramírez, or Sepúlveda."
El Universal referred that "thanks to a cross from Valencia, Javier Ibarra scored the 1-0 at 11 minutes. But the referee resorted to VAR after a poor clearance by goalkeeper Luis García, who was lying on the ground after colliding with Sepúlveda, who first sought to shoot. There was no foul, but Maganda decided to nullify the goal for Querétaro."
According to the newspaper, "Toluca won with very little against Querétaro's defensive mistakes and the refereeing assistance. Gallos Blancos was disoriented regarding the positions of some players, such is the case of Antonio Valencia, who is expected a lot from but did not stand out."
In its website, ESPN said "the most important thing for Valencia was to return to competitive football and do it in the best possible way. He did not suffer from inactivity and showed himself in good physical condition. Yes, it is clear, he must add more minutes to continue improving in the football aspect." (D)