Fluminense Catches Cold
Thunder From The Blue
Gústav Thoroddsen's redemption tour continued with an overwhelming first-half demonstration against Swiss V.245 side Fluminense FC Gilead, who entered the match as favourites and Group A winners, but ended it down by four goals. Fluminense captain Xavier Nauleau could not have imagined this outcome as he proudly led his men out in their wine-red kit, what more with homegrown Number Nine Marcus Da Silva in stellar form. Unfortunately, Grilled's won out in midfield with their wingers playing narrow, and their indiscriminate firepower would win out soon enough.
While Fluminense had won their group by two points, this was on the back of a relatively modest goal return of about two per game, that had to be chalked down to their careful control-based style. This was nowhere in evidence today, however, as the Birds seized the possession advantage through
Lim An Keng and company. It would be a cautious affair with minimal penetration through the first eighteen minutes, after which
Brian Reddy finally left Corsin Markfort behind on a sudden pull.
Gústav Thoroddsen knew what was coming as he ghosted in front of Steve Rouiller, before swinging a half-volley past Sebastien Roth as the ball came to him.
It was nowhere near settled for Grilled, as Fluminense started to get back into their usual groove, only to find that their forwards were too tightly marked by
Aw Keng Chuan and
Ha Qicai. There would then be no breakthrough for the Swiss, as Thoroddsen came good again in the 36th minute from a great through pass from An Keng. The Iceland star has some way to go to shedding his newfound bad boy image, so it seems, as he then immediately got booked for lashing out at Yannick Buerger, supposedly in retaliation for his previous attempted tackle.
That didn't stop Thoroddsen from nearly completing a first-half hat-trick on his next touch, as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul recognized his run to the back post, and lobbed it towards from from some twenty yards. Neither the angle nor pace were ideal, but Thoroddsen improvised excellently with a graceful diving header, only barely blocked by Roth. There would be a chaotic scramble for the ball, only for Fluminese to emerge with it and turn it into a counterattack eventually finished off by Alexis Antunes.
Joe Reece tried to have the last word from a decent corner delivery, but powered it just over with nobody close.
If Argentine boss Iker Cabrera had hoped for a swift renaissance after regrouping over half-time, his plans would be quickly dashed, as Grilled blasted two more goals in within the first four minutes of the second half. Fluminese hadn't even done much wrong there for the first one, but there was simply no preventing
Aw Keng Chuan's magnificent slide-rule ball drifting towards the left side of the penalty area. All
Paulino Trindade had to do was to run onto it, and get the shot off with Roth out of position.
Joe Reece would be next, and this time the blame was easy to assign, with the Fluminense defence having stepped up too lazily to try and spring the offside trap. Reece had seen that coming from miles away, and he would stay in line only to explode once Hwang released the pass. There was then nobody within five yards of him throughout his dribble bearing down on goal, and he would drive it to the bottom left corner with practised ease.
The pace of the game would slow greatly after that, as Grilled felt it sufficient to defend their 4-1 lead, and they proved pretty good at playing it between themselves and back; several substitutes occured without affecting the main tenor of the game, with Tokarz, Antunes and Reece all leaving at some point. It was left to
Paulino Trindade to add a fifth as a dejected Fluminense side got sloppy towards the end, and while Marcus da Silva did make a respectable bid for a second goal in injury time, he would ultimately be seen off by a determined
Ha Qicai.
