Getting In Position
The Birds kept themselves in contention for the knockout phase of the Trophy of Legends, by winning all three of their middle fixtures. Of these, Italian V.235 Lioner pushed them the hardest, strangely enough despite
Chan Ze Han putting them ahead on a third-minute raid. Grilled's defence let Xeno Bigger past them to equalize easily in the 19th, which brought instant replies from Mudaliar and Chan. The final twenty minutes or so were dicey as the Birds went to sleep, but they held out after Berend Edel made it 3-4 for Lioner.
The next two matches were comparatively stress-free, as Sascha Blankensee's petulance saw him sent off for two yellows easly in the contest, sinking any hopes F.C.ORANGES might have had.
Vikram Mudaliar had already tapped Grilled ahead by then, and the Romanians would end up five in the red. German Division Four side Müllenbach Bucks wouldn't fare much better, with
Moey Xin Seng lifting Grilled to a 5-2 result. Gyde van der Made was a force on the right wing for the Bucks, but they couldn't cope with Grilled's stifling midfield coverage.
Head coach
Hovaness Noubaryan stayed optimistic about reaching the last sixty-four. "Winning the last two for a 7-1 record should be enough. This squad can do it."
The Farmer Bunnies are in a slightly worse position, thanks to Hungarian third divisioners Hazaiak blemishing their campaign, by inflicting a 1-2 defeat.
Vivian Grubenmann was unphased by two devastating long-range strikes from Márió Lukoviczki and Benjámin Ledó in the first six minutes, and while
Nurlan Ablaev plundered a counter shortly after, the Buns failed to find an equalizer, and not for want of effort by Ablaev and Al-Nameeri.
They rebounded with a 2-0 shutout of German Division Five club FC Hauweg 08, with Al-Nameeri's 69th minute strike the difference between the sides, before
Aswad Mohd Jafni guaranteed the win just three minutes from time. Al-Nameeri then went on a rampage against LegalHunter FC of the Spanish VI.472, banging in a second-half hat-trick that went towards a 4-1 victory, following Markus Gschwandtner's stylish opener for LegalHunter.
Grilled International had it tougher, though they did start well, with a 4-0 hammering of Bulgarian fifth division champions BloodSuckers, aided by an
Osertz Indurain brace. BloodSuckers would be avenged by another Bulgarian team in Lucky Guys, as the Sofia club rode a stable defence to a 5-1 win.
Fausto Perono would be suspended for the match against Kazakh III.13 winners FC Aport, which required
Wang Hanxuan to fill in at striker. International didn't cope too badly, and seemed on course for a 2-1, after
Didi Reidenbach converted a 57th minute penalty, given for
Tommy Dongelmans' apparent dive against Peter Otrubčák. FC Aport got their satisfaction for that eventually through Jean-Louis Arnaerts' neat finish in the 83rd.
