Academica Fail Birds
Sbattelia Scores
Cape Verde may be a relatively tiny island-based state much like Singapore, but the African country sure does possess some tough sides. Campeonato Nacional club Academica de Coimbra whipped Grilled by six goals to one in their sober black home kit, as entertainment was the order of the day with offensive intent in full flow.
A very respectable attendance of about six thousand was recorded at Sé Velha, with a friendly atmosphere to boot.
Peter Fjällbratt got riled up early though as he felt that he had kept the ball in play on the touchline, and was silly to get booked for questioning the linesman a tad too long.
The opener came out of nowhere as Polish winger Mateusz Lipiec lobbed himself with his back to goal to find countryman Boryslaw Moniuszko, who matched the brillance of the pass with a feathery first touch of his own.
Hang Bao-Tam barely twitched when the ball was swept past him.
Academica's abundance of technical skill in their forward line was amply displayed, as the three strikers interchanged positions and passes freely. Italian Andrea Sbattelia pivoted expertly to trap a sharp pass from a teammate, and drilled it under the hapless Bao-Tam for their second goal.
Bao-Tam would be called upon to punch out a superb stinger from Sbattelia soon enough, but Academica lost some of their tempo when their captain-coach Ludgerus Geiming strained his thigh and had to replace himself with the younger Aaron Hilss. Lipiec's unconventional style turned out badly the next time he tried a no-look pass, as it went directly to the deadly
Ulf Hjortlind instead, who made no mistake.
The hosts restored their two-goal lead as the substitute raced right through
Weng Seng-Huat to get to a hopeful through pass. It looked like a foul, but no whistle was heard and Hilss banged it in with Bao-Tam caught in no man's land.
Tony Fjelquist made it 4-1 minutes after the restart as Bao-Tam left his legs a bit too wide, while the thoroughly unpredictable Lipiec added a goal to his exploits as he steamed in to knock a fifth in with his forehead. The consummate performer wasn't finished yet, and could have made it two for himself had Bao-Tam not been equal to his surprise snapshot.
A sixth was nevertheless forthcoming as Sbattelia got his second with a skilful dribble around Bona, leaving the home fans very contented when the final whistle was blown.
