The crowd turning up at the stadium today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. The pitch was a disaster, due to all the rain. This spelled problems for the more sophisticated players, who usually could rely on speed or technique. For those relying on grit and strength, it actually meant an edge. They fielded: Germanakos - Panigrahi, Webb - Baena, Mohammad Harun, Keng Chuan, Parvathaneni, Trindade - Ze Han, Velho, Xin Seng.

The following players took the field: Vergés - Lill, Massoero, Zygo - Salonmaa, Åman, Ştiubei, Westerlund, Savonen - Charlier, Männikkö.

Grilled Birds trundled out to the pitch in a 2-5-3 formation. The visitors, FC HooJii, chose to start the game with a 3-5-2 lineup. Grilled used their utopian (19) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. It was obvious that Grilled had instructions to attack in the middle when they directed a break on the wing into the center of the park. After a fine move down the middle José Luiz Velho nearly put the home side one up with 6 minutes played. His final touch escaped him though and the keeper smothered the ball. Chan Ze Han's name was chanted throughout the stadium after his goal in minute 17 following a run up the middle gave Grilled the 1 - 0 lead. After more pushing and shoving than a pack of helicopter moms trying to get the last appointment for their snowflakes to see the Easter Bunny, Grilled's Moey Xin Seng finally got himself booked for a foul. Coming in from the right, Chan Ze Han almost managed to score another goal for Grilled, but his header was kept out by the lightning fast reflexes of the visiting keeper. With 27 minutes played, Grilled's Chan Ze Han received a yellow card for challenging a play with his cleats first. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 30 minutes on the clock after Aleksi Männikkö's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the HooJii player a yellow card though. Enrique Baena dispatched a majestic long shot 32 minutes in, but missed the goal by a few yards. 38 minutes had passed when Grilled put themselves up 2 - 0 after the visiting defenders lost the ball to Kalki Parvathaneni, who came up from the left and proceeded to easily go around the goalkeeper and knock the ball home. HooJii's Baptiste Charlier was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 39 minutes. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 0. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 63 percent possession in this half was spot on!

46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Kalki Parvathaneni gave Lim An Keng a quick hug as he left the field. As the 46 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. José Luiz Velho reluctantly made way for Prokop Mottl. After 46 minutes, the HooJii coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Joel Åman off. Szebasztián Lónyay took his place. 46 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a HooJii substitution. Panu Pölönen came on for Andrés Marcelo Massoero. After 47 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by Aw Keng Chuan might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However, Marc Vergés made a spectacular save. Janne Savonen showed why he is feared on the counter-attack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for HooJii after 48 minutes to make the score 2 - 1. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's Prokop Mottl bringing the lead up to 3 - 1. Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their player Janari Lill scored to make it 3 - 2 after 63 minutes, following a good pass from the right. Grilled's Chan Ze Han saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates 69 minutes in. With the clock showing 80 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Bilal Mohammad Harun looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Chia Kwang Tse, though he would have liked to continue. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 2 minutes of added time, they welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 3 - 2. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 59 percent of possession.

Chan Ze Han performed admirably for Grilled. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Enrique Baena today. HooJii's best player was Aleksi Männikkö. Speaking of stinking up the place, Markus Salonmaa sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.