Repeat In Store
There would be a lot of shirt-swapping following the match, with the Malaysian Tigers players taking the loss better than might have been feared. "They do have another national cup under their belt."
Moey Xin Seng noted. "This would have at most been the gravy on top."
The mutual respect extended throughout the squad, with Moey himself eager to claim Benjamin Grant's jersey off his back. As the Grilled skipper had it, "Game recognizes game!"
It'll probably not get any easier for Grilled Birds in the semis, however, as they now face a Karamay FC side that had suffocated Panama II.2 leaders Devil Kings FC, 3-0. The Xinjiang club are defensive specialists, which means that they will likely not suffer the same crisis of identity as the Pirates might have had. Legendary Ukrainian goalkeeper Claudiu Tocileanu, like
Jānis Salmiņš, has been beaten in this tournament just the once thus far, and will be a wall for the Birds' forwards to surpass.
Vikram Mudaliar could hardly wait to try. "It's what we live for?"
The victors between the Birds and Karamay FC will then go up against one of Panama's Heineken P.F.C. and Honduras' Gruppo Icat in the finals, with both top flight clubs having been comfortably in control for most of their fixtures. Indonesian Ligina leaders Bali Diamonds did run Heineken close at the finish in a 2-3 loss, while the Nicaragua Soccers were hapless in a 0-5 whitewash against Gruppo.
