The fans at the stadium today were roasting in the hot sun. It was a sunny day and the technical players could roll the ball around with ease. Those that had to chase after the ball found the weather less appealing, it especially stymied the game of Powerful and Quick players. The following players took the field: Germanakos - Panigrahi, Hutter - Ferzan, Thach, Keng Chuan, An Keng, Baena - Ze Han, Xin Seng, Chitre.

The following players had been selected: Strebinger - Porse, V��r�niemi, Troldmyr, D�r - Nabet, Atek, Benarbia, Zemmal, Bentaha - Boyadzhiev.

Grilled Birds trundled out to the pitch in a 2-5-3 formation. The visitors, New Order of Druids, chose to start the game with a 4-5-1 lineup. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favor of their world class (13) ability to attack in the middle. Like the adage The swift technical skills of Gandhik Chitre were often too much for the tall but somewhat slow Bouziane 'Headshot' Zemmal who was humiliated after 2 minutes. He'll be breathing a huge sigh of relief after the final shot went wide. Druids's Roni V��r�niemi gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 21 minutes with a superb strike from the right. With the clock showing 27 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Druids resulted in a counter-attack that was smoothly brought under control by Bjarke Porse in the center of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle instead. Druids's Veselin Boyadzhiev received a ball slotted perfectly through the home side's central defense after 34 minutes, and chipped it past the helpless keeper to increase the lead to 0 - 2. The away fans won't regret traveling for this one! The home fans looked somber as they watched their team give up another goal, this one coming from their right as Yahia Benarbia put one through the keeper's legs. 0 - 3 after 37 minutes. Halftime score was 0 - 3. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 60 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.

46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Moey Xin Seng gave Kalki Parvathaneni a quick hug as he left the field. Veselin Boyadzhiev was, after 56 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the center, but the home side's keeper Dimitris Germanakos made the save. Grilled's Enrique Baena had a good first touch on the flank, but was quickly closed down so he crossed to Lim An Keng who somehow managed to curl the ball wide. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 65 minutes, Druids tried a variation that they had practiced in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper, however, the defense were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. After 70 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Aw Keng Chuan off. Chia Kwang Tse took his place. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 1 beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 0 - 3. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 60 percent possession in this half was spot on!

Most important Grilled player was Chan Ze Han. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Damian Hutter today. Veselin Boyadzhiev performed admirably for Druids. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Kamel Bentaha seemed to stumble all over the pitch.