Misfitz For Purpose
Rosso Cooking
This Group G opener in the latest Dominion International Cup saw Grilled Birds go up against current Major League leaders Maniacal Misfitz, and the Indiana-based two-time former U.S. national champions took over after the first half-hour. The Birds comported themselves fairly well at the beginning, even managing to have Misfitz sit deep for long stretches, but their defence - anchored by former Italian U-20 goalkeeper Evandro Argentoni - was something else altogether.
Grilled could hardly feel too bad about this, given that the Misfitz were sitting on eighteen straight competitive wins, and had moreover won every single game they had participated in, this season thus far. S$19 million new signing Visalgas Brasas was not even in the squad today, which had Hungarian striker Géza Machlik lead the line, and Ezequiel Rosso supporting from the left. Otherwise, they would seek to mirror the Birds in midfield, while leaving width to homegrown fullbacks Louie Cook and Felipe Blanco.
The Birds definitely did not have nearly as deep a well of talent to draw upon, but they were hardly pushovers either, as
Radomil Marcol reminded with a world-class reflex save off Justin Washington's drilled effort from eight yards, in the fifth minute. Grilled's ferocious response would force their opponents back, and
Aw Keng Chuan would have a ripping volley clatter off the top of the crossbar, four minutes on. Aw was definitely having the better of Martínez at this point, and a visionary through ball in the 16th had
Chad Thach break Misfitz's offside trap, only for Argentoni to barely scrape it away from his feet.
The balance of play settled into a rough equilibrium following that scare for the Americans, who had to contend with a Grilled that were not afraid to throw bodies forward. Argentoni had to be sharp to stop a
Ha Qicai advance in the 31st minute, while Marcol would deflect Ezequiel Rosso's powerful volley a little later, despite it swerving away at the last instant. Former Vietnamese youth international winger Nguyễn Quý was on hand to poach the rebound, only for
Paulino Trindade to put in a crucial tackle.
Rosso would finally breach Marcol's goal in the 37th minute, as Misfitz's well-oiled offensive engine eventually broke Grilled's formation down.
Ha Qicai was left chasing Justin Washington when Felipe Blanco made his move on the overlap, and although
Raúl Himadas contained Géza Machlik on the cross, it then bounced on to Ezequiel Rosso, who unleashed an unstoppable volley. Machlik had his own try a bit later, but he couldn't keep it on target with Himadas again breathing down his neck.
This was an encouraging enough performance that the Birds support still held out hope for a result, but they would be briefly silenced as Misfitz went two up, five minutes after the restart. They had found Grilled's right particularly vulnerable with
Brian Reddy being asked to do most of the attacking build-up, and Blanco would have more than a few openings to pump the ball into the box. One such delivery would make its way across to Louie Cook, who put all he had into a scything right-legged drive in mid-air... that sheared across the grass surface, and into the far bottom corner for 2-0!
Aw Keng Chuan would rally the troops, and he was the true leader of the Grilled team this day, as he did it all from the middle. This extended to attacking too, with the Birds' forward line finding the Misfitz back three horrendously difficult to outfox. It took a barnstorming run from Aw to open it up after 70 minutes, with
Chia Kwang Tse disguising his final pass well, but Argentoni's anticipation was once again flawless.
The Number Four's disappointment was manifest, but he would not have time to dwell on it, as Argentoni got the game moving at the first opportunity. The contest would soon be put to bed anyway, as Leonardo Martínez was spotted by Hatem Richardson as he shook
Lim An Keng off in the 74th minute.
Ha Qicai missed cutting it out by a fraction, and Martínez eased Marcol out with a calculated extra step, before putting it around the goalkeeper.
