Viva Relived
History Replayed
There could be few better omens for the Birds, than essentially replaying their victory in the previous Singapore Cup final, which was exactly what they did against the Congolese Linafoot defending champions FC Congo Vivaise, in the invitation-only Hattrick Elite Tournament. Some might have questioned the wisdom of
Eren Serpin committing to pit his men against such difficult opponents right before a cup final, but as the head coach remarked, there was no better way to fire the team up.
Then again, Vivaise were not exactly impossible opponents, and while Fidelio Budge had forged them into a title-winning unit, it remained that they were by and large a bunch of veterans possibly past their peak; Swedish star left winger Robert Jansson, for instance, is at 37 years of age well removed from his five caps as an U-20 international, with countryman Per Lundhbo scarcely younger in keeping goal.
There will undoubtedly be many Singaporean pundits attempting to read into Serpin's choice of lineup today, though it didn't vary much from his usual tight 2-5-3.
Bernie Egan remained nowhere in sight, which left
Vikram Mudaliar to spearhead Grilled's attack, flanked by Kalki and Moey.
Chan Ze Han would be entrusted with left wing, as
Heng Dong Chu and
Gilbert Webb were relegated to bench duties. Whether Chan will fulfil the same role on Wednesday remains to be seen, but he definitely wasn't half bad at it, as he manufactured the game's first big chance in the seventh minute.
Salah Kamel then made the most of Faisal Abu El-Rub's slip, only to send his attempt horribly wide.
The Birds could afford to laugh that off, seeing as they were directing play comfortably, and it took all of three minutes for them to make up for that miss.
Kalle ter Berg evinced no signs of slowing down, nor modesty at his utterly unreasonable scoring record this term, as he snatched at a pass headed for Moey. That was at least slightly selfish, but given how the strike wound its way in at the far post, none of his teammates could complain - least of all Moey himself, who was first to embrace the Dutchman.
The heady atmosphere had
Chu Xin Lee test Lundhbo the next time he got within range, not that he tends to need much encouragement elsewise; Grilled's domination continued, though with Mudaliar carded for a late takedown of Martín Jaureguiberry. The Congolese would equalize through Thomas Faucheux in the 26th, as Grilled overextended themselves, and they would make holding the status quo until half-time as their priority - which they did.
Vivaise turned out to be better at stalling than might have been imagined from their unsettled early state, as the match took on a decidedly clogged character from the second half. They might even had gone ahead in the 55th had Ventzislav Mishev been on target, but they would not be able to match Grilled's workrate quite as well as the minutes went by, with
Bhavya Panigrahi sounding the alarm with a rocket of a strike, 75 minutes in.
Matti Laitinen would replace Mishev as Grilled prepped their corner, and although it would be cleared initially,
Chu Xin Lee would return it on the volley, for 2-1. That had the game abruptly ratchet up in intensity, and despite Giancarlo Carrera beating
Massoud Dob with a delightfully-angled header a few minutes on, Chu would again put it in the back of the net, this time after some confident dribbling.
With their participation in the tournament hanging in the balance, Budge would throw Alex Vincent on for Jansson with five minutes remaining, but it would be their first substitute who would save their skins here. The Birds evidently thought they were home free, with
Cyril Künzler having replaced an unwilling Chu in the meantime, but they would be shocked by Matti Laitinen's befuddling of the entire defence, before levelling it, 3-3.
There had to be flashbacks to the legendary cup final against Bot Team FC at this point, though it couldn't be missed that Vivaise were playing the catch-up role that the Birds had filled then. These haunting echoes would only get the louder, as the Congolese team finally went ahead, after 105 minutes - what was only their second corner of the game would develop into a goalmouth melee, that ended with Carrera nudging it just across the line.
That goal would only be awarded after the referee studied the replays, but in any case, Grilled were not about to let themselves be bound by perceived fate. Vivaise, for all their fire, were visibly physically flagging by now, and
Salah Kamel would again make a hash of a
Chan Ze Han delivery soon afterwards. Not a problem, happily, as
Kalle ter Berg equalized from distance, before Kamel finally found the winning goal from a well-worked set-piece.
