Equator Calamity
Luckless Valdir Out
Grilled's bad fortune continued as just-recovered
Valdir Dias Paes was injured once more in his quest to regain full match fitness. The Brazilian goalkeeper was painfully caught on his shin after an Equator forward followed through in his attempt to win the ball, and will be out for weeks again. To add insult to injury, promising winger
Sándor Deme had his development curtailed as he was likewise put out of commission before reaching half-time.
The rest of the match went much as expected. Equator Changi showed plenty of heart in making it to the third round, but the part-timers were quite out of their depth against Grilled. Wu Ja-Kwan, a lecturer on weekdays and a goalkeeper on weekends, was lured the wrong way by Branbilla's wickedly swerving free-kick that wobbled through the air.
Chowdhury kept up his remarkable scoring streak by volleying in a bobbing pass from
Peter Fjällbratt, which had some onlookers wondering if he should be converted to a forward. Equator played a respectable pressing game which didn't make it easy for the Birds, and the cleanliness of their play was highlighted by the fact that Megat Amir Faisal bin Hassan's yellow card for repeatedly blocking a free-kick was just their third foul of the match.
The illusion of comfort disappeared in the 37th minute, sadly, as the burly Han Phuntsok saw a chance to make a name for himself as he chased a long ball down. Valdir was always the favourite to get to it first, but Han slid in as he was entitled to, and didn't manage to slow down before crunching into Valdir. The Equator man looked suitably mortified at what happened, but the damage was done and Valdir refused his apologies as he was stretchered off.
Bao-Tam had barely warmed his gloves when Fjällbratt hammered in a third, and
Ulf Hjortlind had barely taken over the captain's armband for perhaps the first time in his career when he clattered into an opponent overzealously. The referee had no sympathy for the fact that he was adjusting to his new-found responsibilities, and cautioned him.
Equator Changi seemed to have the knack of causing innocent injuries, as
Sándor Deme inadvertently got pancaked by two players when trying to dribble his way out of trouble. He fell clutching his ribcage, and although the medic could not detect anything wrong, it was still decided to pull him off as a precaution. He was replaced by assistant coach
Luis Alcántara.
Grilled's players all became noticeably more cautious after the restart, as they endeavoured to keep a distance from opposition players whenever possible. Although Fjällbratt gifted a superb chance to Equator with a very sloppy backpass, they failed to capitalize and were immediately punished by
Matthias Branbilla from Bao-Tam's monster goal kick.
Maikel Rotteveel then sprung into life and notched a hat-trick from open play, as the hosts petered out towards the end. Defender Qi Yong-Hong was booked for protesting about the legality of Rotteveel's second goal, as he looked marginally offside, and had barely stopped talking when the Dutchman happily sped past him to get a third.
