Atlantis Sink Birds
Han Off Pace
Grilled invited Chinese Division Two side InterAtlantis over for a Chinese New Year's Eve friendly, and were promptly sent packing by an admittedly lucky-sounding eight goals. The Birds stuttered in a 3-4-3 that didn't have enough defensive steel to counterattack properly, unlike the visitors' well-drilled five-man backline.
The reserves had enjoyed some success recently, but it quickly became apparent that they were outclassed this time, shipping two goals in the first five minutes. Gu Xingting and Cheng Qinghua saw Mohd Firdaus out of position both times, and Silvera's handling left the fans relieved that Valdir had been passed fit for Sunday.
Han Lik Tsun's attempted return after more than a season out was eagerly awaited by the home faithful, but Belgian forward Wobbe Chevalier gave him the runaround so often that it is hard to make a case for the 40 year-old, even as a squad player. A particularly egregious mistake in the twelfth minute allowed Chevalier an easy finish.
Lan Jingling and Lu Jingzhong joined in on the all-you-can-score buffet, before Grilled's
Ciro Penati vented his frustrations after yet another futile chase by barging Greek midfielder Ilias Frosinis in the back. That petty shove was punished by a yellow card, and led to Frosinis being taken off for young Spanish trainee Salvador Saluces.
Han decided that he had had enough by the end of the first half, and delegated his duties to longtime backup,
Fu Jun Chang. The largely ineffective
Erik Back was likewise replaced by
Kyou-Chull Kim, but the changes made no difference as InterAtlantis held on to the ball.
Chevalier would find Fu as little of an obstacle as Han was, blowing right by to nip ahead of the defender to a cross by Jingzhong. Silvera then made perhaps his largest contribution of the day, by putting Lan Jinglin off after the wingback found himself completely free in the six-yard box.
Jinglin would supply an assist for big Romanian centreback Gheorghe Timar in short order, though, and Finn Pekko Dahlbom ripped a final one into the back of the net to bring the match to a symbolically auspicious end, with Chuan Heng and Xiuyu narrowly avoiding receiving some early "
red packets".
