Britannia Rules
Grilled Birds' Supporter Week Trophy run ended in the first knockout round, as they were wiped out 5-0 by Austrian Division Two representatives Britannia Breitensee.
Kalki Parvathaneni's dismissal in the tenth minute left the Birds toothless in the face of an already-superior Breitensee XI, and Uruguayan striker Pablo Caballero thrived on the amount of chances afforded him, converting two of them before the day was out.
Caballero had, in fact, been the direct cause of Kalki's red card, having lured him into a clear shove as the last man; unlike what many other players might have done, Caballero admirably pulled himself up and kept on running to score. Grilled managed a show of defiance about the 22nd minute, with
Florus Romijn setting off a series of shots, all well-prevented by Hugo Monteverdi. Herbert Fleischer then put Breitensee 2-0 up with a confident curler, and the Birds collapsed in the second half.
Hovaness Noubaryan regretted little about the match. "We won't be losing much sleep over what could have been, I'll say that much." he joked. "But realistically, reaching the knockout phase was a bonus in itself. It was a great tournament by a young squad, which has much room to grow."