Lobitos Lap
Siu-Yue In Thick
Others may have wondered why Grilled had accepted the friendly against Lobitos F.C. on Thursday knowing full well that they would have little time to prepare for FC GBR, but Grilled's second team cared little as the game ended 2-1.
Grilled were deployed in an unfamilar 4-5-1 formation which looks a possible against FC GBR, with Dewilde rested while Seng-Huat and Pakpao were thrown in. However, Lobitos looked more defensive-minded as they went in aggressively for every ball. Grilled had only Chiew-Yen as their lone striker, but Ju-Hau, Siu-Yue and Rottman played the role of auxillaries to perfection as they took turns to loiter nearby.
Lobitos' defenders hadn't gotten used to that when Siu-Yue received a cheeky backpass from Chiew-Yen and got through on the inside of Fernando Musalem to score in the 6th minute. Siu-Yue gave no quarter in trying to get an immediate second, sending Portuguese midfielder Ivo Bento into the air with a painful tackle. The referee looked torn between a yellow and the red, but to Siu-Yue's relief flashed the former.
Grilled continued with their fast-moving attack and soon enough Sven Åkesson was caught on the ball by an alert
Ma Dai-Lin, who stuck his foot out quickly enough to stop the Swede's clearance. Dai-Lin, who has been out of Grilled's last four league matches, made a case for his return to the first team with a laser-guided cross straight to Tuan-Mu's forehead. Tuan-Mu stuck out his thumb to acknowledge Dai-Lin's contribution almost before the ball crossed the goal line.
Lobitos were no stragglers, though, and all Grilled's numbers in defence were not sufficient to deter Isreali striker Miroi Aharonson four minutes later. Aharonson reached a long cross from Thomas Meekel which Pakpao gave up for dead, and Aharonson punished the misjudgement by throwing himself at it and directing it past Huel-sheng at the near post. The second half was a stroll in the park by both team's standards, but the good-natured Chilean crowd did not mind the exhibition football that followed, probably since Lobitos were on track for promotion too. Neither side had any more shots on goal as the forty-five minutes were run out.
