PETALING JAYA: Who are you calling an old horse?
Alvaro Gonzalez has shut the mouths of critics, who labelled him as such after he signed a short-term contract Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), with a wonderful brace in his debut for the Southern Tigers the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) in New South Wales, Australia, on Tuesday.
The two goals from the Spanaird ensured that JDT defeated Central Coast Mariners 2-1 to boost their hopes of making the knockout stage of the ACLE.
The 33-year-old, who used to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate when he played with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, became JDT’s saviour against opponents who played with 10 men after goalkeeper Dylan Peroic-Cullen was shown a red card for fouling Arif Aiman Hanapi outside the penalty box in the first half.
Gonzalez was in a class of his own when he scored the first goal in the 64th minute before adding another in the 79th minute after Alou Kuol equalised for Mariners in the 70th minute.
Gonzalez said it was an amazing feeling to be able to make an instant impact for JDT, adding that he had to undergo training for seven months at home because he did not play in competitive matches.
“The goals were important for this team and myself because I’ve only been training at home for seven months and haven’t played in competitive matches,’’ he said.
“The intensive training with JDT for a week also helped a lot.
“I’m very happy because this club have given me a lot of confidence and this victory is certainly for my family and this club, and it’s certainly not easy to adapt quickly to JDT’s style of play,” he said.
Gonzalez, who was named man of the match, also praised Arif Aiman and Afiq Fazail who clearly played well.
“The style of play implemented by our coach Hector Bidoglio is also similar to the style of play in Spain.”
It was JDT’s first away victory in the ACLE but the players need to stay focused on their final match against South Korea’s Pohang Steelers on Feb 18 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
JDT are currently fifth in the standings with 11 points after seven matches.
Only the top eight advance to the round of 16.
