Kaduna Wild
Grilled Birds suffered a loss and a draw in Day One of the Supporter Week Trophy, which does not bode well for their hopes of reaching the knockout stage. It did start off swimmingly with a 9-0 schooling of Italian VIII.821 entrants AC Picchia87, who had literally been founded just last month.
Johann Schwietzer claimed a rare brace in what might be considered an unsporting exhibition, the same as
Hwang Teck Fu, who further scored in the following 2-2 draw against Czech IV.18 club ...AC Sparta Praha....
The Birds knew that they had to take things up a notch now, but it all came apart against Nigerian II.2 runners-up SV Eintracht de Kaduna, founded by expats from Portugal's SV Eintracht Pinheiro Manso; poor inspiration was coupled with a tremendous team effort by Kaduna in their dynamic 3-4-3, which neutralized Grilled's wingers while bullying their defence. Hometown hero Idris Eze excelled from midfield with a brace in their 6-2 thrashing.
A 7-0 sweep of Belgian V.70 newcomers Royal Standard de Liège was scarce consolation after that, with the only consolation being Hwang continuing to look particularly sharp, as he found another two goals with some assistance from
Chia Kwang Tse's hard shooting.
Ananda Hettiarachchi was the other standout here, as he finished twice against young goalkeeper Natan Bouve with his usual grace.
This had Grilled Birds on seven points in a disappointing 6956th place, as they were eclipsed by Farmer Bunnies, who won three and drew one to wind up in 1894th. Unlike the Birds, the Buns began slowly with a boring nil-all stalemate versus German VI.952 opponents Union Blutgrätsche, who had to endure a locked door after Gianluigi Manuello was hustled off his promising run in the fifteenth minute.
Farmer Bunnies picked up pace after that, and impressively put three past Latvian V.21 side Jelgavas Grenadieri, despite their six-game competitive winning run.
Amirul Jufri Khairil connected with
Wee Liang Teck's corner in the 20th minute, and Wee stuck a free-kick and penalty home in the second half, to complete a rare trifecta.
Goals would be increasingly hard to come by, with two against Swiss VI.306 club FC Zico99, with Wee still the key despite German custodian Martin Brylov guessing right on his 34th minute penalty. Amirul opened in the 52nd minute, with Wee curling a twenty-yard free-kick around the wall with ten minutes left.
Dušan Václavík then got the lone winner versus eight-time Cameroon Elite League champions FC Bavaria Foxvalley, with a great solo rush against the current II.3 club in the 64th minute.
This was more than
Vishnu Tallapaka could have expected, and required his backline to smother the likes of Finnish hitman Esa Rostedt for ninety minutes, and
Gilberto Sorondo to make a game-saving block off local midfield star Victor Ubeki - who like Rostedt got heated enough to be carded. "That was one of the best rearguard actions I have seen this team put out." the head coach assessed.
Grilled International sat ahead of the Birds too, as they mustered three wins as well.
Vincent Nordin bin Hj Irwan and
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Naasiruddeen would share a half in all four matches as
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh placed his trust in the youngsters, but it was veterans
Waldemar Gołata and
Ghanem Ben Mimoun who did the job against Polish VI.678 favourites FC Saints Częstochowa with two apiece. Henke Läfvener scored an early reducer for them, and Teofil Wnuk added another in a stoppage-time free-kick after an
Etienne Binder straight red, for the game to finish 2-6.
FC Kisiels then got one back for the Poles, with the IV.39 competitors smashing six past International without reply.
Nabil bin Mohd Zulkhairi's 15th minute overhit was the best that they mustered, as Swedish Number Nine Malko Gorgis led FC Kisiels from the front with two great goals, together with fellow Swede Hildebrand Nilsson.
Portuguese IV.49 club PAKgervide then provided the closest contest of the day, with
Nabil bin Mohd Zulkhairi finally coming good with a pair of fine close-up finishes against Tautvydas Molneris, before Argentine leftback Carlo Maria Santarpia added spice with a contested injury-time penalty due to a supposed handball by
Phua Li Kong. Phua would be seen debating it with the match officials afterwards, as International held the ball up for a 3-2 result.
Brazilian V.184 side Gavião B, the farm team of current Campeonato Brasileiro giants GAVIÃO, were up for a far more open game, and there were smiles all around despite a 3-7 loss on their part. Both Vincent and Nordin would finally get on the scoresheet against a Gavião B back two that was more interested in supporting their attacks, and
Nabil bin Mohd Zulkhairi dribbled past two men for International's sixth goal in the 65th minute, for good measure.
