Khai Kend Do It
A three-win streak on the second day of the Trophy of Legends indeed put Grilled Birds within striking distance of the final sixty-four, as they ended it in 83rd position on a 5-1-0 record. Their first game was also the closest, with former Swiss cupwinners SC Buochs going ahead by two goals, before falling 3-4 at the death. The hero for Grilled would be 21 year-old attacker
Kendell El Khateeb, who fired it past current Swiss national goalkeeper Nico Rogers with his second touch right before stoppage time, about a minute after replacing
Chia Kwang Tse.
Kendell was greeted with a flurry of backpats at that, but the Birds had in truth struggled horribly against the III.9 side, starting with Hong Kong forward Lee Xiangsheng polishing off a counter in the eleventh minute. It was a long road back with Chia and Hwang equalizing by the 64th, though Valentín Ibarburu looked to have won it from his second goal with eight minutes left.
Chad Thach however levelled again in the 86th after a magical
Phillip Nagata dribble, leaving Kendell to apply the coup de grace.
Italian VI.417 runaway champions super8 then lived up to their name in a way, as the Birds hit eight past them to two from Spanish right winger Edu Juaneda in reply.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul started this match at centre forward with
Hwang Teck Fu rested, and excelled with four goals in a dominating performance.
Chia Kwang Tse added two from the left, but was sent off shortly after his second goal for a needless shove on Czech defender Stanislav Semerad.
Chia's suspension would have Marzuki step in beside Hwang against Romanian IV.44 winners Transilvania Sighișoara next, who boasted of former national U-20 star Vali Iercoşan in attack. Grilled pulled out a 6-2 victory all the same, with Iercoşan's solo effort in the 57th minute coming after they were four goals up.
Ananda Hettiarachchi and
Lim An Keng found too each, with Lim's likely-looking bid for a hat-trick unpopularly spoilt by his coming off for
Wu Ping De on the hour.
Head coach
Dan Alstani remained sanguine about his team's chances, with a good outcome in their final two games almost certainly putting them through. Grilled Birds would by the way just dodge new Allsvenskan champions Inter Draggen, who finished the day a single spot above them, but it is debatable whether six-time Austrian titleholders Torpedo Wien Amateure are a better assignment.
Farmer Bunnies lost their middle game en route to 407th on a 3-1-2, albeit after starting their day brightly with a 3-1 result against Argentine VI.237 contestants Hurlingham Crusaders. 40 year-old team senior
Wee Liang Teck flaunted his penalty prowess with two ice-cool takes in the seventh and seventeenth minutes, before Mathias Rolf Weiglsberger got beaten in open play by
Ong Li Jing in the 51st. Osvaldo Marcelo Severino headed in a corner with six minutes remaining, for the Crusaders' only goal.
Colombian IV.4 runners-up FC Vestrus defeated the Buns next, as the former Copa Tayrona Zafiro winners found the only goal of the match through a Florin Negraru effort in the 66th. They deserved it, what with Georgian winger Arkadi Pavliashvili having missed a sitter after robbing Wee in the 49th. Farmer Bunnies then rebounded by defeating German V.32 club STV Altstadt 2-0, as
Wee Liang Teck again polished off a pair of penalties - first to the top left, and then a cheeky panenka down the middle with Vincent Rothfischer having moved too early.
Grilled International managed three wins too, like the Birds, taking them to 412nd on 4-0-2.
Umut Koza set aside talk of a possible impending departure with a banner day in their 6-0 whitewash of Czech IV.7 entrants FK Atomerömü Kolín, slotting him the third goal following a fumbled corner.
Chua Jun Long added two assists, with
Khosrov Danelyan turning provider for
Ghanem Ben Mimoun's big header to round it off in the 83rd minute.
Purple-clad Cape Verde III.3 side Dimonios Team were then defeated 4-1 after going ahead through Federico Panunzio's delightful finish in the ninth minute, as
Ghanem Ben Mimoun indulged his rediscovered taste for scoring with the equaliser in the 25th.
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan then thumped two home in the middle of the second half, before teeing
Stef Vreys up in stoppage time.
Khosrov Danelyan even had the luxury of missing a penalty in between.
International's final clash of the day would be versus Spanish V.22 side San Felipe II F.C., which turned into another rout - 5-2 this time.
Mohsen Zeynali was the star with
Darshana De Abrew blocking an early penalty, with
Umut Koza and
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan extending their lead to 3-1 by the 61st minute.
Chua Jun Long got the final goal, preying upon a moment of lost focus by opposing skipper Gerald Stelzhammer.
