Sting In The Tail
Dragiša Bite
Puerto Rican II.1 high-fliers A.C. Milan Scorpions eliminated the Birds from the group stage of the Dominion International Cup, as they pulled away to a 5-3 victory under scorching conditions. Grilled would actually do well to stage something of a comeback after a horrendous first half defensively, but the gap remained too much to be overcome.
Led by former national youth forward Oliver Gandia and Montenegro veteran international Dragiša Rabrenović, the Scorpions were a team that one could not take eyes off for a moment - and yet it was Grilled who stung first.
Lim An Keng has oft been underestimated for his lack of pedigree at striker, but the 25 year-old is gradually changing minds with his goal return, as with his immaculate second-minute volley from nowhere to put the Birds ahead.
Ex-Mozambique U-20 Number One Eduardo Maria Ribeiro could hardly accept being scored on at first asking, from how he threw his hands up then, but he would not have much else to gripe about as the Scorpions took over from there. They simply had too much class all over, and Pēteris Aitiņš would have
Brian Reddy on the back foot regularly leading into his sweeping pass to Gandia after a stop-and-start, which became the equalizer in the seventeenth minute.
Grilled would have a few scattered runs at the Scorpions box, chief amongst them
Chad Thach's mazy dribble 21 minutes in, but he would oversell Simone Guffanti's final challenge and wind up penalized for simulation. A perfect storm then arrived as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Rabrenović and Guffanti all put it past
Dimitris Germanakos in the span of four short minutes, as the Grilled backline went AWOL without warning.
The Birds were not entirely cowed despite being three down out of the blue, and Reddy deserved plaudits for his refusal to just take it easy and minimize personal risks. Instead, he would bravely take on Aitiņš - and then three other opponents - in a drawn-out 36th minute sprint that had even some Scorpions supporters wowed, but unfortunately the end product wasn't there.
Mindful that his team had to find at least three goals somehow to qualify,
Tian Yonghang was lost in thought for the remainder of the first half, but limited bench options evidently stayed his hand. There would be no subs for the second half, but Grilled would be thrown a lifeline with the Scorpions seemingly getting slightly complacent. Nobody really wanted to pick up
Paulino Trindade as he thundered inside from the right 62 minutes in, and the winger responded by powering it past Ribeiro for 4-2.
Still a long way to go for the Birds then, but they were at least closer than they had been, and saw no reason to slow down. A focus on central attacks caused no end of problems for the Scorpions defence, who didn't much like getting compressed, and
Lim An Keng would show them the error of their ways as he shoved by Jasmin Mizdrak after sleight of foot by
Hwang Teck Fu, to reduce the deficit further in the 69th.
A.C. Milan Scorpions were on high alert now, with Grilled actually possibly turning it around with a single kick, and they would plow the left wing through Aitiņš in search of a solution. The Scorpions captain shook off Reddy's attentions for long enough to squeeze a waist-high cross inside after 76 minutes, and Rabrenović's mid-air finish sealed the Birds' fate.
