Koekie Overcome
By Jover
Dubai II.4 side Dubai Koekie might not have had much luck in the league, having garnered just one point from five matches, but it would all go their way against the Birds in today's World Battle clash. The Middle Eastern franchise of the Netherlands' HRF Koekie would survive an inordinate number of close shaves, whilst making the most of their three shots on target - all of which found the net.
Romanian head coach Marius Hamzu had not spared any effort in shoring up his midfield after they had fallen from the Al Amiri League, to II.4 champions, and then to fourth place over the past three seasons, which saw Iranian winger Morteza Akbarpouri and American playmaker Gerardo Azpurua arrive, for close to eight million apiece. For youth, there would be near S$5 million for 19 year-old Kyaw Lam Mang of Myanmar, widely recognized as one for the national team in the future. Kyaw would be left on the bench for the day, however, in favour of homegrown former youth international Mohammad Saeid Paknejad, and Salem Alaabdi from the same batch.
For all that, Koekie did not have their way about it as Grilled took control of the first ten minutes, and it would be mostly good fortune that they got through it unscathed.
Chan Ze Han would turn French defender Matthieu Toulet in the fifth minute to squeeze a lob towards goal, and it surprised Ramon Jover only to graze the woodwork at the far end.
Shekar Kannan was next to have a go, as he streaked inside from the right, but this time Jover would extend himself majestically for the save.
It then started going Koekie's way as their hometown midfield duo started to get a grip, and Azpurua began to find passing lanes to his forwards in tandem. Khalfan Al-Mansoori, another fan favourite, has been really coming into his own as a 23 year-old, and he would shake
Sølve Lunde loose with an ease that had to be unsettling for Grilled's Norwegian centreback.
Jānis Salmiņš couldn't get down quickly enough, and it was one-nil to the Dubai club.
It would be a hard stint for Lunde, as
Salah Kamel would not manage to keep tabs on Faisal Al-Zeer on Koeike's right either. 23 minutes in, the winger would somehow keep the ball in play despite seemingly hemmed in on the touchline, and it would be him and Al-Mansoori bearing down on Lunde, with Kamel chasing forlornly from behind. A slick little movement of the foot convinced Lunde that he was going for the assist, before he forged ahead strongly, and polished it off by himself.
Those had to be some massive blows, given how composed Grilled had generally been other than those two possessions, and
Moey Xin Seng's attempt for a direct answer would be dragged several yards wide, with Paknejad doing some admirable tracking back on his own initiative. It was more of the same to half-time and beyond, with neither the break nor
Kalki Parvathaneni's entry for the subdued
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud doing much to break Koekie's charmed life in front of their own goal. For example,
Vikram Mudaliar seemed certain to score in the 57th minute after the entire backline was caught napping, but the Number Nine would uncharacteristically overthink his approach, before fumbling an embarassing effort weakly at the goalkeeper.
With little to lose,
Hilal Bakhtiar would finally pull Kamel in the 65th minute, and
Heng Dong Chu would impact with a resounding bang. He brought a renewed sense of urgency to the left side the instant he came on, which had Paknejad forced to take
Bilal Mohammad Harun down - and get booked - within seconds. That didn't stop Heng for long, and four minutes later, he would dance around Marius Cuculea and thread it through for
Moey Xin Seng. The Grilled captain can't stop scoring, from how his seemingly off-balance touch ended up tricking Jover.
That was as far as the Birds got, however, and despite their continuing to hold most of the ball, Jover and the woodwork would conspire to keep them out.
Chu Xin Lee would get on for Kannan in the last minute to try and save the game, but all that happened was Azpurua getting through to up it to 3-1 in injury time, as Grilled left nobody at the back in the chase.
