Java Jolt
Hwang On Turbo
The final warm-up for Grilled Birds before their final would be against Indonesian II.1 side Bintang in Group A of the AFC ASIAN CUP, which ended very acceptably for the Birds indeed. One of Java's most-established clubs, Bintang's main claim to fame would be their lone Indonesian Cup won nine seasons ago, as well as affiliates in Italy, Palestine and the Homegrown League. 50 year-old former striker Soni Purnama would manage the team, and he went for a conservative 4-5-1 with an exciting young midfield core that featured current Indonesian U-20 star Santo Ariandi.
The rest of the Bintang team would be slightly older, if not much, which made it a whole different experience from the battleworn La Divine Equipe that Grilled had just faced down. Swiss forward Corentin Mariet found himself frequently crowded out on the long ball, but first blood was his in the 19th minute after he outmuscled
Aw Keng Chuan on a determined run.
Raúl Himadas had come close before that with a fine swerving free-kick, but it shaved the upright and went behind.
Himadas would try again in the 27th minute after American defender Edwin Lattrell held
Gandhik Chitre back at the head of the penalty area, and he would surprise Danish goalkeeper Mark Markussen this time with a drive hit hard and under Bintang's leaping defensive wall. The Indonesians were still coping well against the Birds' onslaught, and would be the more lethal when chances fell their way; 31 minutes in, Russian winger Vladimir Smychkov saw an opening when
Mohsen El Khateeb tried to move up in support, and his clever shuffle before shooting would see
Radomil Marcol stoop over the wrong way.
That made it 1-2 to Bintang, which was also how the half ended after the referee refused
Ha Qicai a penalty shout off Leonid Mukhtarov's bump in the 35th minute - admittedly probably the right call. It was
Darko Andrović to get another forty-five minutes at Trindade's expense, then, but Bintang pushed the pace despite the substitution, with Corentin Mariet beating Marcol with a rifled strike on the half-volley... but not his crossbar.
The Birds would be spurred into greater effort after surviving that, though not always in a proper manner, with
Chia Kwang Tse lucky to stay on upon catching Eros Sugiyanto with a terrible late tackle, two minutes later. That appeared to break Bintang's concentration, on the bright side, and man of the moment
Chad Thach would quickly conjure up an equaliser, with
Lim An Keng smartly pulling the strings on Grilled's next attack.
Purnama's young Bintang team started to lose their patience and shape at that, which played right into Grilled's hands. The impetuous Ariandi and company would increasingly try to overrun the Birds' lines on their own, with predictable results. Now with plenty of holes in the Bintang midfield to pick apart, Grilled advanced briskly in the 74th minute with Aw having his pick of teammates to pass to. He sought out
Chia Kwang Tse, who was rushing into the right side of the box, and Chia didn't disappoint with a thunderous right-footer aimed straight into the near top corner.
Mark Markussen had been expected a cross, from how he threw his arms up after realising what had happened, but this didn't change the fact that Grilled Birds were finally ahead.
Tian Yonghang had other priorities in mind, though, and the head coach duly signalled for captain
Ha Qicai to come off, for
Mohsen El Khateeb. Ha handed the armband off to
Darko Andrović as he stepped over the touchline, almost as an afterthought, and the newcomer's eyes brightened as he immediately pulled it on. Ha appeared to want to instruct him to pass it on, but didn't have the heart to continue.
There would be brief fear of a curse as Bintang levelled two minutes into Andrović's stint as skipper, as Vladimir Smychkov raced down the left with
Brian Reddy bent on getting forward, and threading it back to Italian centreback Eliano Sirigu. Concerns wouldn't last long as Andrović sparked a revival on the left too with
Hwang Teck Fu firing home sweetly, and Hwang would make doubly sure with another breakthrough in the 84th minute.
