Grilled 8 - 0 Croatia
The 4752 fans in attendance at
The Cooking Pot were roasting in the hot sun.
Neo Ze Shun was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Jani 'Headshot' Tapio and
Pier Luigi Arsuffi. For some players the sunny weather was bad news. It made Powerful and Quick players a bit sluggish. For Technical players, it was instead an advantage, allowing them to shine on the pitch. The following players took the field for Grilled:
Germanakos -
Jian Hui,
Hutter -
Ferzan,
Thach,
An Keng,
Kwang Tse,
Trindade -
Reece,
Tokarz,
Balde.
The following players had been chosen by Croatia:
Kovačić -
Marandi,
Jankovic,
Yifter -
Sousa,
Phoko,
McShane,
Tantsi,
Alsheikh -
Oeurm,
Ko Chit.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. Home team Grilled Birds went for 2-5-3 while Croatia Wizards has decided to play a 3-5-2 lineup. Grilled displayed their magnificent (12) ability to play creatively.
Chia Kwang Tse gave Grilled the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 Grilled solidified their lead at the 20 minute mark, as
Joe Reece dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 2 - 0. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's
Orest Tokarz increasing the lead to 3 - 0. Cheers filled the stadium as
Orest Tokarz broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 0 to Grilled. A wonderful trick by
Samuel McShane that left
Lim An Keng bewildered really deserved to end in a goal but the keeper made a fine save. After 33 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and
Damian Hutter gave the Grilled supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 5 - 0. 38 minutes in, Grilled's
Joe Reece received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Despite hurting his left foot at the 38 minute mark,
Tsegase Yifter decided to keep playing. Things were going to get worse for the visitors.
Paulino Trindade squirmed through their central defence after 39 minutes, increasing the lead to 6 - 0. It was 6 - 0 at the break. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 82 percent.
Grilled's
Yee Jian Hui was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 60 minutes.
Orest Tokarz went down after twisting his right ankle in minute 72, but was able to continue the match none the less. It was almost a goal for Croatia following
Januário Sousa's good header after a corner, it went just over the bar though. 75 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Damian Hutter gave
Bhavya Panigrahi a quick hug as he left the field. 75 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as
Ibnou Balde broke through, making the score 7 - 0 for Grilled. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's
Joe Reece increasing the lead to 8 - 0. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Ibnou Balde reluctantly made way for
Kalki Parvathaneni on the pitch.
Joe Reece would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Bilal Mohammad Harun entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes.
Joe Reece was coming off, and had placed his last free kick for the day. That meant that
Bhavya Panigrahi got the chance to showcase his dead ball skills. The referee announced 4 minutes of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. The match ends 8 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 81 percent of the ball.
Grilled's top performer was clearly
Lim An Keng. However,
Yee Jian Hui made a disastrous appearance.
Zin Ko Chit performed admirably for Croatia.
Christian Jankovic was a disappointment, however.