Mass Over Mind
It would be a bad week for Grilled Birds against Italian Serie A teams, as they lost their second game in the Supporter Week Trophy to Massoero, who were newly promoted from II.3. Preeminent in Liguria, Massoero slaughtered the Birds 3-0 on the counter, with German right winger Jobst Heinrich Borngässer taking
Paulino Trindade for rides. Swiss midfielder Thomas Widerskog did the rest, with
Chia Kwang Tse coming the closest for Grilled with his arcing 22nd minute header.
The other three games would be wins for Grilled, as Portuguese V.49 opponents lagartos de Odv. fell 0-5 to a Chia double before that, while conceding a
Raúl Himadas free-kick after Oskar Raepke got sent off. Dutch V.157 club ADO Delft let five in two with it being
Gandhik Chitre's turn for a brace in a 5-2 result, followed by a 4-2 against Hungarian IV.19 contestants FC Belemenés. Israeli winger Achikam Algrabli punished a greedy Grilled romp in added time, after
Lim An Keng overhit it.
This left the Birds in 4168th at the end of the first day, ahead of Farmer Bunnies in 15370th, and Grilled International in 4490th. The Buns split the difference with two draws and a win, but started out with a tame 0-3 defeat to Chilean V.161 side Empeño. Bastián Tapia's tenth minute penalty took a lot of wind out of their sails, and Carmelo Zercalde's dismissal in the 87th minute immediately following Eugenio Muguertegui's goal, came far too late to have an impact.
The Buns improved with a one-one against Spanish VI.163 outfit Los Número 12, that had Efthimios Andreou slot a penalty home four minutes after
Gabriel Priebe's homing free-kick in the 67th. A mostly-featureless scoreless draw against Chilean V.23 champs Mapaches was next, before a 2-0 triumph over Polish VI.264 club FC Żaby.
Lau Keng Kwang had to be quick to strike in the 29th minute, which he was, and Priebe then found a way past teenaged goalie Oies Baraizarra from twenty yards, 82 minutes in.
Grilled International replicated the Birds' record more or less exactly, as they beat Brazilian V.218 favourites Clube Atlético Juventus soundly 3-0 thanks to a
Chua Jun Long brace to begin with, before falling 2-3 to Colombian III.5 side Deportivo 2 de Mayo F.C. in the next match.
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan had presaged a comeback with his accurate finish in the 65th, but Clarke Pericles pulled off a counter to win it for Deportivo after 77 minutes, with Redhuan's reply saved by Héctor Galvis.
Two single-goal victories came next, as International saw off FC Black Bears Thurgau of the Swiss V.42 by two goals to one, though Doncho Petkov's reducer did spark a bit of a fluster in the last seven minutes. It got even tighter facing the disciplined 4-5-1 of Spanish VI.162 participants Machunbared 2.0, who conceded only from
Umut Koza after 73 minutes, with
Khosrov Danelyan supplying the assist.
Leri Bezhanishvili had a penalty next, but got far too casual with the take.
