Eating Crows
Grilled International's 15-game winning streak would be decisively snapped by H.I. top division club Lila Crows in the semifinals of the H.I. Sapphire Challenger Cup, as they were thumped 1-5 at the gigantic Itamar Levin Fridman Stadium in Jerusalem. Former Armenian youth international
Khosrov Danelyan sent International hearts a-fluttering with a flash of genius to flip the ball past Thibaut Bourbon without warning - or looking - in the 16th minute, but that was as good as it got for the Brunei club.
Although gaps had been appearing before that,
Remond Bergervoet would nearly give Crows more to think about with his foray in the 35th, only to nick the woodwork with his curled effort. Sadly, that led to Joos Van Eeuwijk's leveller on the return, and Crows were up the next minute as Sascha Plasser bagged on a neat free-kick routine, with the International defence only too naive there.
International were still battling, but they would again be hit on the counter after
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan's scorcher got warded off by Brazilian centreback Hosha Huberman, which led to an Anton Darmo goal. Indeed,
Darshana De Abrew was lucky that Darmo and Van Eeuwijk rushed their finishes as his backline collapsed before half-time, though the Belgian would power through in the 49th minute anyway. There would be one more by Jorg Bemerode, before Danelyan spurned a second consolation in the 58th, following a rapid dash by
Chua Jun Long past former Austrian international Benedikt Brunmayr.
Minür Nurettin Tütsü barely had a sniff despite International splitting possession with Lila Crows, and
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan was for one inconsolable, after referee İsmet Tekin blew for time after two minutes got added on. Head coach
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh could not help but recognize the clear gap between the sides, though. "We were always going to be the underdogs, and truth be told, I don't think any of our own fans expected us to get as far as we did. The guys did all they could, and I expect us to be back in the future, stronger than before!"
H.I. II.2 leaders The White Stripes of Bolivia flattened Czech third division opponents B.O.F.C Veterans 4-0 in the other semifinals, making this a wholly uncontroversial finals matchup. Whichever club prevails will capture their first major trophy, with the Stripes having the good omen of having defeated Lila Crows 3-1 in an unofficial game, about a month and a half ago. Romanian star İsmail Uğuz would be one to watch, having scored a brace in that clash, and one today.
