Pizza Cometh
Óscar Delivers
The Birds sustained their first defeat in this season's World Battle tournament at the fifth time of asking, with Colombian II.3 former Copa Tayrona Zafiro victors Pizza de Kiwi FC piling on the hurt. The 0-5 pounding was slightly far from the norm for a match that Grilled won possession of, and it was largely a matter of things going wrong for them - that, and the craft of Slovenian veteran goalkeeper Gaj Šturman.
It will be a big week for Grilled with newbies are newbies and Sentoza Springboks on the menu, and
Tian Yonghang could hardly pass up the chance to try some tweaking, in this case the deployment of
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko in defence with two sitting central midfielders in
Aw Keng Chuan and
Genki Nagano. This had to be one of his most defensively-solid setups in theory, coupled with his best attacking trio - at least as broadly accepted by fan sentiment - of
Chad Thach,
Gandhik Chitre and
Lim An Keng.
Pizza de Kiwi FC had for their part been knocked out of the Copa Colombia by league leaders Gundrak City H.C. last Wednesday, with Víctor Hugo Llamas suffering an early calf injury and retirement in that 2-4 loss. Llamas was back to reap a second minute opener against Camilines in their 4-4 league draw over the weekend, though, but would not start today as Spanish boss Tante Gómez Martelo went for a 3-5-2 spearheaded by German man of the moment, Stefan Rorhring.
The Pizzas' top-crust midfield would be centered around 32 year-old local Hernando Zanabria, and if one had to point out a relative shortcoming, it had to be Giuseppe Petruni's conservatism on the right. Former Senegalese national sweeper Masseck N'Dao captained the side, with Icelandic set piece specialist Valmundur Hauksteinsson as a second centre-back, and Bulgarian Stanislav Iliev with a freer role covering the flanks.
Grilled actually had by far the better start of the twain, as they held the ball masterfully against their opponents' immediate press, before releasing
Lim An Keng down the left inside channel in the second minute. Had Gaj Šturman not gotten a leg to Lim's grounder, the match could have developed very differently. As it was,
Raúl Himadas would then have his planted left foot slip as he executed a free-kick two minutes later, in a sign of the day to come for the Birds.
The Birds kept their offensive going in spurts, but it was clear that this was not going to be their day, when
Darko Andrović moved in on
Hwang Teck Fu's clever chest-down in the 17th minute, only to rock the crossbar with his monstrous half-volley. The Pizzas would be far more economical with their chances, as with their first real opening in the 21st off a tentative Petruni rush, which had Óscar Mazarredo sweep it home after Rorhring's cheeky stepover.
Hein looked disgruntled at having been taken in by such an obvious move in the aftermath, and it wasn't getting better for him as he misread
Raúl Himadas' intentions eleven minutes later, allowing Stanisław Łowny in for the Pizzas' second.
Genki Nagano was then booked for a late hack at Kamil Kurlapski, with
Lim An Keng intercepting the free-kick only to waste it. The goal kick went long to Hernando Zanabria, who shielded it while waiting for Óscar Mazarredo to get into position for the assist - 3-0.
The part that was hard to swallow was that Grilled Birds weren't doing at all badly when they had the ball, a fact that was borne out according to most of their attacking statistics. They started the second half with the initiative yet again, but would often have their movements blunted and then dispersed by the Pizzas' crowding.
Gandhik Chitre did dribble himself into a good position through individual skill in the 52nd minute, but Hauksteinsson was there to block off his shooting lane just when he had thrown N'Dao off.
Chad Thach had no luck either, as he got put through by
Lim An Keng's eye for a pass some seven minutes on, only for Gaj Šturman to throw himself down into the path of the near point blank effort. N'Dao did brilliantly to control the rebound while getting it out of the oncoming
Gandhik Chitre's way, and he sparked a counter that nearly led to Óscar Mazarredo's hat-trick... but for the finishing lob to clang off the bar. Stanisław Łowny beat Andrović to it from the left, however, and the Polish winger kept his head up to identify Leopold Ihracký swinging inside for the assist.
Tian Yonghang was visibly unhappy at his gameplan collapsing around him, but he was also at a loss on how to respond, with his men constantly looking fairly convincing on the front foot.
Lim An Keng was an object example in the 68th minute, as he staked out a good spot on the left side of the box, having slashed a way through the packed midfield with several quick passes. Gaj Šturman was beaten for once as Lim unleashed with the tip of his right boot - but not the far post.
Lim would stand disbelievingly at how that turned out, and Pizza de Kiwi FC would seize the opportunity to dig back into the Birds' flanks. Hernando Zanabria got past the otherwise-impregnable
Aw Keng Chuan as Rorhring pulled clear on the right, and seemed to have it on a plate as
Radomil Marcol missed the low-driven cross... only for
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko to slide it off the line. The Birds were then on the counter in a role reversal, with
Raúl Himadas embarking on a seventy-yard run upfield. Alas, Gaj Šturman read
Brian Reddy's intentions all too accurately, and scrambled the ball off Himadas' feet after a loose first touch.
Of course, there was no question that a consolation could have revived Grilled's hopes, but even that would be denied them by the stingy Pizzas. Not only that, the Colombians then collected a fifth goal three minutes on as Hernando Zanabria got it on target again from Leopold Ihracký's slide-rule ball, and this time there would be no Hein on the line to keep it from going over.
