Birds Khan Buns Can
The second day of the Supporter Week Trophy had the Birds lose twice, and once very badly indeed. There was no hint of this when they met Chile's Blau FC to begin with, though, as the Division Five club were thoroughly dismantled, with a lot of that attributable to
Chan Ze Han. With Moey unavailable, Chan would take over the leadership mantle with assurance, and contributed two goals in a 6-0 mauling.
Former Hattrick Masters champions Uthaugen IF of Norwary might have worn blue too, but they were entirely out of Grilled's reach. Their defence might as well have been impenetrable, anchored as it was by three doughty ex-internationals, and Stian Østlie got a hat-trick in the 0-5 drubbing.
Hoàng Trung Quá was able to catch up with countryman Hồ Đồng Phong afterwards, at least.
The last fixture against Swiss Division Five club Gengis'Khan was tighter than the previous two, and the Khans would ultimately emerge 3-2 victors. Grilled were caught napping as Sandro Hibbs opened in just the second minute, and recovering goals from
Vikram Mudaliar and
Islom Davlatov weren't enough for the Birds to catch their opponents.
Farmer Bunnies' playoff dreams would continue as they purposefully racked up the points, first by sweeping El Salvadorean Division Two side Uruguayo-cazador F.C. by four goals to nil. If
Sim Leng Cheng shone against the black-and-whites, his strike partner
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany was undoubtedly the star against Estonian third divisioners Sori Forell FC, as the speedy Saud raided a treble in a 6-2 win.
The duo would carry on scoring in the final game of the day against the Italian club abbreviated as JEFF, who did however manage a praiseworthy consolation through Julian Gerloff's late invention.
Morgan Hu would help restore the Buns' goal difference stats, as he took advantage of the JEFF defence not playing to the whistle, to make it 4-1 right before the end.
Acting captain
Tham Leng Teck recognized the challenge of finishing in the top sixty-four in a competition with over ten thousand participants, but would not be deterred. "Realistically, we have to win all our remaining three games, each of which are likely to be against clubs that have achieved similar records. Easy? Definitely no. Possible? Well, somebody has to do it..."
International, like the Birds, recorded two losses and a win. Brazilian Division Six side EC Vitória first denied them in a narrow 2-1, with
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Ali Timbang's superb 71st minute free-kick winning plaudits, but remained not enough to overcome more pedestrian goals by Samuel Castro Maia and Cleiton Santos Jr..
Abdul Hamid would then flag off the International scoring as International beat Polish sixth division opponents Jaga Baba Karłowice 4-1, two minutes after Fritz-Volker Kösching had opened with what would be their only goal. A tame 0-2 loss to Israeli Division Five club Diamonds are Forever then followed, with Silvano Hersberger and Zoltán Velez finishing in either half.
There wasn't any time to rest either, as International still had a friendly scheduled in Jamaica, against III.10 side C.A Campeón Del Siglo XX. Poor
Fausto Perono would aggravate his collarbone injury in the 41st minute, but International were two up by then, thanks to
Ragib Banović and
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Ali Timbang blitzing Campeón in successive attacks.
Soo Kiong Yau would flub a penalty, and Carlos Valcarcel then powered straight through
Hardi bin Besar to reduce, but the hosts wouldn't manage an equalizer.