International Win V.231
Grilled International got over their stumble at Nice little pingvin last week, by beating Brazilian visitors Recife Sport 4-1 before some sixty thousand screaming fans at Burung Memorial Stadium - a result that confirmed their second Division Five league title.
The calculus was uncomplicated: with second-placed Nice litle pingvin all set for a huge landslide at in-administration Uusimaa FC, nothing less than victory would do for International. That said, there wouldn't be much undue drama as they absolutely went at Recife, and after a couple of marginal misses,
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh found Emilio Trindade out with what looked like a misplaced chip. No matter, as
Tommy Dongelmans followed up with an instant second, and
Fausto Perono soon snapped up a dropped corner catch - not that he needed it to seal his Golden Boot award, what with his five-goal lead.
One of Perono's not-so-closest competitors was Recife's Polish Number Nine Daniel Stasiuk on eight goals, and he would reduce with a decisive pullback in the International box, which caught makeshift centreback
Hardi bin Besar entirely by surprise. The second half was more International dominance, though by the time
Didi Reidenbach had been sent off in the 80th minute for his part in a spontaneous scuffle, they had not yet found a fourth. This would be left to
Safari bin Hj Jali, who poked it in almost as referee Anton Bernd blew for time, prompting the awaited pitch invasion.
The league trophy and Golden Boot were handed over according to script, and for the 25 year-old Perono, it was nothing less than vindication against persistent opinions that his star had faded. "It was hurtful, but I'm putting it all behind me now." the volatile Italian forward said. "I don't know where they got those ideas - I'm just getting started!"
On the transfer front, the Farmer Bunnies released 17 year-old defender Ty Paek on a free to East Coast mainstays Ho Seh Liao. Former International trainee Nasrul bin Hj Kefli also moved on to Spain's Lambrusco_Kids, having found FC Babre not entirely to his liking, but the French club would make over S$400000 on his week's stay anyhow. There was no joy for Grilled Birds' 19 year-old fullback Soo Leong Min, however, as he hung up his boots having found little encouragement in his footballing job search.
