Madcap Finale
Chad Stands Up
Grilled Birds stayed top of Group I in the AFC Asian Cup with their 4-2 victory over Indonesian II.2 counterparts Bule Gila di Jakarta, themselves descended from German club Strandallee 57. It was hardly an easy outing for the Birds at the Stadion Utama Kebagusan, what with BGJ executing their counterattacking gameplan well, but
Chad Thach secured Grilled full points with his critical strike three minutes from time.
Coming off a disappointing loss to Paupa Barat's Athletic Papua in the league, Danish head coach Thomas Doll would tailor his side against the Birds, with Polish defender Andrzej Domek assigned to shadow
Gandhik Chitre. Other than that, their 4-4-2 had captain Rombout Staal join German destroyer Thilo Hruby in shielding their central defence, with much of the attacking responsibility left to former Jordanian youth winger Anas Khalaileh. Up top, big Italian Number Nine Tito Barbui prowled in search of goals.
That left Grilled able to keep most of the ball still, and after a rough first fifteen minutes, they started to find gaps - small ones, granted - in their opponents' armour. Ironically, the Birds would have the most luck forcing their way through the middle despite BGJ's focus, as they found the backline comparatively rigid once the midfield had been breached. Belarus goalkeeper Maksim Hatal'ski warded off the first real chance of the game in the 16th minute, a
Ha Qicai lob, while Chitre came closer in the 31st - but still no dice as it went behind off the bar.
Grilled Birds were getting nearer and nearer, it had to be admitted, and they finally got through in two minutes after that, as
Chia Kwang Tse weaved his way in behind Chitre's leading run. Shaken, the BGJ team neglected to communicate as
Raúl Himadas hit it long following a tentative offensive rush from the restart, and Portuguese defender Lino Miguel Toureiro didn't look around as he picked it up in his own box. Hatal'ski's yells were for naught as
Chad Thach stole it away, before finishing confidently to the far post.
BGJ would get one back before half-time as Anas Khalaileh exploited Himadas' clear lack of acceleration on the recovery, and although the Birds sent
Paulino Trindade through on the reprisal attempt, he would be stopped conclusively by Finnish wingback Heikki Pietarila as he tried to cut to the inside. The counter had Ha forced to foul Barbui, which led to Antonio Bermúdez missing
Radomil Marcol's top corner by a hair's breadth.
It would be a comparatively quiet start to the second half as BGJ stood firm against Grilled's none-too-committed attacks, with Chitre and company seemingly more interesting in claiming free-kicks, than actually beating their man. That did work in the 59th minute, but Hatal'ski sprang high to punch Himadas' excellent shot aside. It was pretty much a nightmare for the Spanish defender as he was then culpable for Heikki Pietarila's equalizer coming down his side in the 73rd, before mishitting a penalty awarded for an infringement on Chia.
Grilled looked quite nervous now, and they might even have gone behind following a save off
Lim An Keng's rapid maneuvering up the right wing. The cross-field counter saw substitute winger Rodrigo Cascante blow
Ha Qicai away on the run, and it took all of
Radomil Marcol's length to keep BGJ from pulling ahead then. Certainly, one would not have been surprised had they gone on to win it from here.
The contest of grit eventually swung the Birds' way, though, and while
Brian Reddy was carded for cutting Khalaileh down with five minutes to go, it turned out to be a small price to pay for fanning his teammates' fighting spirit.
Lim An Keng charged Maksimilijan Špis' shot down, and after a swift rampage from
Paulino Trindade, Thach would knock the ball home for 3-2. There would be another for
Brian Reddy after the Indonesians threw everybody they had at Hatal'ski's deep kick, and Lim would stalk off for
Mohsen El Khateeb with head held high.
