Dinamo Spoilers
Grilled would not finish with a perfect record in the Trophy of Legends group stages, and for that they had to thank Spanish II.3 champs Dinamo del Born. The Barcelona stalwarts would have
Chan Ze Han man-marked by Juan Sergio Hinojosa, which appears a common theme in teams doing well against the Birds. The first half would then largely be even, with Alejandro Viego's drive immediately followed by
Bernie Egan's picking Wolf Kalny being too far from his near post, and Arnis Endzels' counterattack would likewise be equalled by
Kalki Parvathaneni's clever movement to get in position for
Salah Kamel's assist.
Dinamo del Born would finally tilt the balance their way permanently through former Uruguay international playmaker Yamíl Misterio, a tendency that carried over into the next half. Sixto Gojenechea and Alejandro Viego upped it to a final score of 5-2, though it could well have been more, had they taken advantage of gross errors such as
Mateja Jeftić's in the seventieth minute.
That wouldn't stop Grilled Birds from qualifying for the knockout phases, but for that they had to contend with the Danish Landspokalturneringen winners, Contract Killers. While the Birds' takedown of their Superligaen rivals Rustenstorken earlier in the tourney might have been well-received, that was about as far as the geniality could go for the day.
Well, the Killers fans would get very black-faced by the 62nd minute, for that was when
Moey Xin Seng stuffed a third goal for the Birds past Maciej Kęski, with his nicely-executed chip. Before that,
Bernie Egan had completed his incredible record of a goal in all eight rounds, two minutes after
Vikram Mudaliar had opened, coming in cleverly from the right.
Credit to Contract Killers, they were still very much alive and kicking, and
Gilbert Webb's entrance for Panigrahi would coincide with them testing
Manuel Vadalà plenty more than before. The Italian backup goalie would unavoidably be seen as a weak link with
Massoud Dob's leaving, and his allowing Carlos María Gerchkovich's off-balance effort past him wouldn't help that verdict. Trần Trung Tiệm's 89th minute blast set up a very nervous minute of injury time, but the Birds would pull through, 3-2.
Mind, it was true that a draw wouldn't have helped either club, with a 7-0-1 record the minimum required to qualify. This was exactly what the Birds achieved, as they landed 44th spot - four beneath fellow Singaporeans St. Xavier's FC - to reach the knockout phase for only the second time, the other coming five seasons back.
A restructuring Farmer Bunnies would wind up with a losing 3-1-4 record and -4 goal difference, after falling 0-2 to their final two opponents. The first of those was Ecuador II.1 side Fantasmas del Caribe F.C., who were hardly threatened after Sven Dubinin and Mattia Andenna found the net in a busy end to the first half.
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany made the Buns' best strike after coming on as a late sub, hitting the post in the 80th minute.
The Buns' lack of energy in attack was confirmed against Swiss fourth divisioners FC Rheinquartier Ducks, as they found no answer to Jochen Gilles's brace.
Nurlan Ablaev would reluctantly admit that they could have done with more running from all involved. "We are just not worrying the defenders enough. It's been much more static than, say, two seasons back."
Grilled International did better with a 4-2-2 run in the Heroes of 2017 Trophy to finish 1610th, though they started on a losing note against Romanian IV.56 club TREBOR's team.
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh and
Osertz Indurain teasted at a rout by the 14th minute, but TREBOR were made of sterner stuff, and it would instead be Juan Francisco López to nick a last-minute victory for them.
The whipping would come against Elan Marivalois, with both
Safari bin Hj Jali and
Fausto Perono getting two each in an easy 7-0 sweep of the French Division Six champs, who appeared to have other priorities, from their team selection. Safari didn't mind, for one. "Here's to a better 2021!"
