Bab Bubble
Lee Leads
Grilled gave no quarter at Tunisian club bab el bab, which had more than enough on their hands after their relegation to the third division. While the Birds had fared little better, the friendly did at least allow both sets of players to enjoy their football, which showed with rather more outlandish moves being tried than usual.
Bukhari Abd Hamid was first to have one pay off, as he tried a flamboyant flick that clipped an opponent and fell right to
Kau Siu-Cheung, who had just made his way back from an offside position. The defender instinctively ran the ball towards goal, and beat Duan Chong with a hurried finish.
Hjortlind then tested Chong with a well-flighted free kick that was a little too slow, and then
Lim Chuan Jing could only grin and bear it after he sidefooted wide from five metres after Mohd Firdaus' dancing in the box drew everybody towards him. Qiu finally got the second goal with a much more direct approach.
bab's Lars Fredriksson appeared to have turned the tide after a corner kick from the Scottish Jordan MacEachan could only be headed straight up by Tuan-Mu at the near post, and Bao-Tam was outmaneuvered by Fredriksson when it came down. The goalie immediately protested that he had been unfairly pushed away, but in truth he only had himself to blame for not asserting himself.
The hosts' hopes of a comeback fizzled out however as
Lee Jie Siong got two goals in two minutes, both from outside the box, as Duan Chong was left without recourse due to the midfielder's range of strikes.
Qiu, Ødegaard and Lim were the standouts of the second half, as the young tyros zipped effortlessly about in attack. Qiu was unfortunate not to score, after Ødegaard got a touch on one of his shots that was going in. Lim's was probably the pick of the bunch, a scorching waist-high shot that Chong couldn't keep out despite getting most of his body behind it.
