Fiorentina Flogging
Ten To Nothing
With possibly the most important match in Grilled's history looming, Grilled coach
Marcus Liehner decided not to risk a single first-teamer or possible substitute for the flight to Georgia, and the mix of half-retired oldies and untested youngsters that went were thoroughly dismantled by Fiorentina Tbilisi in the friendly game.
Grilled's players actually did alright for the first thirty minutes as they kept the hosts at arm's length, though the inability of Fiorentina to string passes together in the final third had a lot to do with it. Grilled's luck finally ran out in the 36th minute when Swiss left winger Pius Osta went across to the right and got a decent shot at goal. Cheung might have been expected to save it as it went straight at him, but fumbled it into his own net.
That opened the floodgates as Grilled leaked four more goals to end up 5-0 down at half-time, when they appeared to be good value for a goalless stalemate just moments ago. Swedish striker Jesper Eggmar laid the foundation for his hat-trick as Grilled wasted their free-kick after young Eldar Gigashvili went heavily into Fjällbratt. Eggmar himself got cautioned for disagreeing with the linesman on a corner he felt they should have had, but he should have been mollified by Aufhauser, Gwardiak and Ordoñez all being bang on target in the next few minutes.
Liehner's caution in keeping his key men away from this game seemed well justified as the Fiorentina men didn't hold back, and the usually mellow
Sándor Deme was incensed after English hardman Les Hancock unceremoniously sent him flying with a raw challenge. The referee agreed with Deme's assessment of the foul, and made Hancock his third booking of the day.
Grilled seemed to find some rhythm after the rest break, but again it didn't last. Mirchev tried to wear out veteran French defender Gildas Hugon with his off-the-ball running, but it was Hugon who had the last laugh when his failure to recover from a corner led to him being in the right place to help a stray shot into goal in the 65th minute.
Eggmar then got another two goals in style, either side of a Skeiveris yellow card for getting involved in another heated argument with a linesman. Hancock powered the ninth goal past Cheung from the left side, and Ordoñez put it into double figures when he effortlessly ran past a struggling
Lan Tuan-Mu to slot past a rooted Cheung.
