Che Repartee
Joe Fades
The Birds just about saw off two-time La Copa Tica holders Che Guevarinhos FC 3-2 in the World Battle, again with shots attempted aplenty, but few enough getting through. A key offender would be transfer-listed Welshman
Joe Reece, who was a pale shadow of his former self as he toiled ineffectually against Nicolás González-Rubio.
Having famously taken the Copa Zafiro Bulto last season through a soak-and-strike 5-5-0 against San Jose Kingsclub67, Che FC would resort to the same counterattacking strategy today, if with French head coach Kjell Kohl lining the team up in a 3-5-2 with Portuguese forward Eugénio Barros Pereira leading the line. This was a formation they were not entirely accustomed to, apparently, and their 22 year-old goalie Esteban Monge - oft said to be a future national prospect - would have to dive deep to cut out
Joe Reece's intuitive low cross in the tenth minute. Kohl recognized that it was not going well, and threw Romeo Ţilivea on for Reggie Waterloos five minutes later.
The unusually-early sub had been made as Che FC waited on a throw-in, which turned into a free-kick as Federico Parado bumped fellow captain Cosmin Henter contesting it, and then into a yellow card for Reece, who tried to stop it being taken. This was the beginning of a forgettable outing for the Welsh forward, but Che FC appeared to have struggles of their own, as Titus Zwartkruis and then Ernesto Fidel Velázquez had to enter the fray due to knocks, which meant that they had expended all three of their subs by the 23rd minute.
Monge would have to snatch another through ball off
Gandhik Chitre's toes in the meantime, but Velázquez's entry would presage the Costa Rican club's first big chance of the day, as Aussie fullback Suran Shah failed to anticipate the ball falling free to him from a corner.
Chia Kwang Tse then had a powerful shot denied by Monge, who would finally let one in when
Chad Thach came through four minutes on. The lead lasted less than sixty seconds, as Henter broke on the right wing, and fed it to Velázquez's stronger right foot.
Dimitris Germanakos had his go at
Ha Qicai for not preventing that one, but the duo would cool off fast, as the Birds went back to controlling much of the play. The match would slow down towards half-time and take its time coming online after that, but
Joe Reece's rustiness could not be shaken off. He would slot onto
Lim An Keng's nice diagonal play into space in the 56th minute, and were this a season or two before, few would have imagined him not able to convert this one-on-one. Instead, Reece hesitated before attempting a chip, which was read all too easily by an alert Monge.
Fortunately, Che FC remained playing below their potential as they dithered on committing men to the counter when they could, and it was Grilled Birds who went ahead again. That was in the 64th minute, when
Brian Reddy inched forward with Reece pulling wide instead, and it was telling that the latter's biggest contribution of the day was as a distraction.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul had a decent go ten minutes on, and no-one could begrudge Monge his glory here, as the goalkeeper reacted instantly to get across goal to save by a hair.
Reece could have few valid complaints when he was taken off for an empathetic
Chan Ze Han with fifteen minutes remaining, which however was also when Che FC finally came good on the breakaway. The Birds had perhaps placed too much belief in Chan's legend in their collective push as the veteran tried to dribble it up, and had no recouse once Henter rushed up the left once more. The Romanian's long strides ate the distance up rapidly, and countryman Bogdan Iosip knew exactly where the cross was going, meeting it with a full-on header for 2-2.
A draw was looking quite likely now, but the Birds refused to yield, but Monge continued his spate of saves with another top-drawer one off Chitre's curler towards his left, on the next possession. It didn't go very far, unfortunately for Che FC, and after
Lim An Keng claimed it on the left edge of the box,
Federico Parada swung in as an option, and notched the winner past Monge with his first touch once the ball came to him.