Monstrous Regimen
Pride In Defeat
Grilled Birds might have been eliminated from the Dominion International Cup by the Finnish Mestaruussarja champions El Gato Monstro, but in taking them all the way to penalties, the Birds had performed far better than what most pundits had expected. Monstro were a far more complete team on paper, which had seen them defeat Copa Colombia holders A.C END in the first round of the Hattrick Masters, before narrowly losing 1-2 to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines double winners FC Holcim Reborn.
This was a level that Grilled were aiming for, but definitely not at yet, as they faced down Jiří Lacina's masterwork. The Czech head coach had only kept building on his title-winning squad after taking the crown, with Swiss goalkeeper Sammy Beckberger busting the S$20 million cap by himself. Four more big purchases would follow in just the last month or so, with Myanmar national regular Aung Naing Aung and former Latvian U-20 winger Mikhail Skok starting today.
Against this, Tian didn't have too much to pick from, and
Gandhik Chitre would quickly discover that Lacina had deployed Rafael Nahuel Chauque to man-mark him, for a dubious 28th birthday gift. This might have taken Chauque away from leftback at times, but Cameroon legend Domingo Angbwa - capped over a hundred times - knew when to cover. In any case, the Birds were behind by the time that came to light, with Aung releasing former S$34 million Dutch signing Rolf Boelens on his first possession, but two minutes in.
Both
Hwang Teck Fu and
Ha Qicai were culpable for that, and try as Grilled did to steady the ship, their opponents were just too good. Monstro's nominal 3-5-2 felt like simply a suggestion at times, as their players flowed where they were needed with a practised ease; such was it in the 26th minute when Spanish forward Alberto Hijero appeared on the opposite wing to pick countryman
Raúl Himadas' pocket, before confidently taking
Radomil Marcol out with a feint inside. 2-0.
This was mostly going according to script, from how relatively muted the reaction from the Monstro bench was, but Grilled had not shown all they were capable of yet. Their midfield would begin to get creative with the deficit counterintuitively taking a load off their shoulders, and
Darko Andrović's slippery footwork resulted in Mikhail Skok eating a yellow card in the 32nd minute. The free-kick would be raked almost languidly into the middle... where
Aw Keng Chuan picked it up, bulldozed his way past Romanian sweeper Victor Cionca with a fury, and cracked it almost through Beckberger for Grilled's first.
There was nothing at all subtle about that approach, but it sure did work for Aw. Perhaps taking the cue, Boelens would try his own kick-and-run against
Ha Qicai two minutes later, which worked out too with Grilled's captain slow on the turn. Still, Aw's goal had stripped Monstro of their seeming invincibility, and they would soon be back within a single goal with
Gandhik Chitre losing Rafael Nahuel Chauque on a large-scale Grilled advance. The Argentine had to cleave to
Chad Thach's move inside, which left Chitre to bulge the net after brief pandemonium in the six-yard box.
The Birds might have been 2-3 down at half-time, but from the expressions on the players' faces, they were mentally by far the more well-off. Flashes of self-doubt would appear on the Monstro end instead, as when their free-kick routine in the 59th minute concluded with Alberto Hijero dragging it weakly wide.
Radomil Marcol took the goal kick near-instantly, and
Lim An Keng would hold Russian international Serafim Dravolin off to power a headed assist onwards for the ever-reliable
Chad Thach.
Grilled nearly took the lead too, with Lim himself again unmatched in the air on
Brian Reddy's deep cross to the far end of the box in the 67th minute, but Sammy Beckberger extended himself to claw the goalbound header away from his bottom left corner. It was then El Gato Monstro to retake the pace, and they came very close to deciding it in the 77th minute; Boelens clipped his hat-trick attempt across goal, and Marcol seemed to have gotten a piece of Ukrainian forward Boryslav Andrukhovich, as he slid in for the finish. The referee would take his time reviewing the video evidence on the touchline, before indicating that Marcol had gotten the ball first - no foul!
It remained all the Birds could do to hang in there, as Monstro camped inside their half for the last five minutes or so. The two minutes of added time couldn't end fast enough, which allowed
Tian Yonghang to gather his team for a pep talk. This had Grilled recover their shape, but it didn't protect them from Mikhail Skok's inventiveness on the left, as he left both Reddy and Himadas for dead having switched over for a double overlap. Hijero knocked it home just two minutes into extra time, and made sure to acknowledge his winger for the service.
This fourth goal was by all indications enough to put the Finns through, from how spent the Grilled team looked by now. It turned out that they had again underestimated the Birds' resolve, though, with
Chia Kwang Tse giving it his all to get past Aung Naing Aung, 111 minutes into the game. Support arrived in the form of
Darko Andrović as Chia glanced frantically around for an outlet, and the Bosnian somehow found a route through Monstro's lines, to curl a magnificent effort beyond Sammy Beckberger's long arms.
It was penalties, then, and from the initial exchange of Skok and Himadas calmly driving textbook takes into the bottom left, both teams had not slacked off on their practice. The battle of nerves continued with Aung Naing Aung and
Aw Keng Chuan still going for the same corner, before Domingo Angbwa finally went the other direction for Monstro's third.
Radomil Marcol would not be cowed, however, and dusted himself off to power his own kick past Beckberger - again to the left post.
This was when Tian's late subs would get the opportunity to prove themselves, with Greek reserve goalkeeper
Dimitris Germanakos stepping up following Rolf Boelens' naughty finish down the middle. Germanakos did his job with a last-second flick to the right post, sending it to sudden death. There was some concern in the stands as Rafael Nahuel Chauque fiddled with placing the ball on the spot, but his similarly-shaky run-up belied an untouchable rocket into the roof of the net!
There was some discussion amonst the remaining Grilled players as to who would bear the responsibility here, with it apparently coming down to
Brian Reddy and
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko. Reddy was confident enough as he walked up to the spot with chest puffed, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with his drive to the bottom left too... but this time, Beckberger was there to block.
