Oz Outed
Four Again
After a four-nil win over Uzbek side FC Oz ozbek at the end of Season 45, the Birds repeated the trick in their first friendly of Season 47, dismissing the visitors 4-1 at The Cooking Pot. While they achieved the first feat with a host of first-teamers, however, it was a largely adolescent team which did it this time, with
Tian Yonghang and
Alvaro Silvera the only holdovers from the squad which travelled to Uzbekistan.
Tian, who scored the fourth goal on that trip, wasted no time in making it two out of two as he chanced upon
Tang Hengcai's speculative back-header and swept it into the ozbek goal within six minutes. Belgian defender Frits Bastiaens appeared to have taken a hit in the build-up, and was forced to retire from the game after aggravating the injury in the 11th minute, leaving Venezuelan Angelo Cruz to pick up the pieces.
FC Oz ozbek restarted the game all fired up, and got the equaliser as homegrown winger Sadriddin Husniddnov caught Grilled third-choice goalie
Hilal Bakhtiar out on a free-kick. While Bakhtiar had been used as a midfielder all his career, it looks as if he is currently being converted to the custodian position, as had been done to Lim Shui Jin before him.
That would be the only goal Bakhtiar would let in all day, as Grilled kept their opponents constantly on the backfoot.
Hung Wee Li should have done much better after he was gifted the ball by Michel Clesse, something he was completely not expecting, while Tian did everything right but was denied by Alexandru Pătroiu in the ozbek goal after that.
There was a concern that the young players would run out of patience and be drawn into rash plays after those setbacks, when
Wardi Azhari, who has finally found his way back into the side after not being picked for two Cup games, gave the coaches something to think about with a superb effort after winning the ball back in the penalty area.
Bakhtiar did his bit with a wonderful save from Maltabar Kabdigali that many a career goalkeeper would have been proud of, and the Birds would enter the break 3-1 up, with
Li Boon Boon returning to scoring ways, after Tian received a yellow card for overly zealous tackling.
Teo Yong Yau and
Neo Da Teck came on for Tang and Hung for the second half, and Han's selection headache increased as Neo wasted no time in displaying his exquisite first touch every chance he could. On one occasion in the 62nd minute, in a moment of pure genius, he took the ball down and nutmegged defender Hasan Belezoğlu with one movement of his right leg, and then clobbered the ball past Pătroiu to boot - a goal worthy of winning any match.
There wasn't much more that could top that, certainly not
Niculae Stanca's ugly challenge on American teenager Brian Elder in the 71st minute, which saw Elder stretchered off in agony.
Edvaldo Mourão was Grilled's third and final substitute, replacing
Walter Ross, but there was not enough time for him to make an impact as Grilled saw the game out.
