Twin Stars Shining
With Day Two of the Supporter Week Trophy throwing up three victories for the Birds, they would start to dream of the knockout stage again, as they had just managed in the Trophy of Legends. Mozambique III.11 club Mozambicanu' Talpa Iute got a 27th minute corner conversion from Chinese wide attacker Fang Chunlong, before being downed 1-6 with
Lim An Keng starting the second-half rout.
It was 4-1 against Peruvian III.5 outfit González Prada F.C next, with Prada playing hard to the tune of two yellows, but were ultimately unable to keep the Birds out for long. Veteran Sri Lankan defender Channa Dassanayake made things interesting with a superb 27th minute free-kick, but Lim and then fellow Ceylonese
Ananda Hettiarachchi clinched it by the half-hour mark.
The most tactical challenge of Grilled Birds' tournament thus far then followed, as they went up against the counterattacking verve of Polish II.4 runners-up RedStarDragon. Their league position was a clear signal of just how strong their 5-5-0 was, but
Chad Thach rendered that all for naught with his impossibly-precise chip over ex-Croatian U-20 goalkeeper Trpimir Lipovac, in the 17th minute.
Farmer Bunnies went undefeated too, beginning with a credible 1-1 draw against Spanish VI.368 challengers Roig Futbol Club. The first half was the Buns' with
Dušan Václavík notching the first goal 35 minutes in, and
Ong Li Jing forcing a big save out of František Lukašík. Ong actually did it again in the 59th, before Ethopian winger Kenenisa Bekele equalized from Ramón Iribe's inventive low cross.
It was then Sushi for Breakfast in Japan, as the Buns tucked in for two rolls against the Homegrown League V.129 side. The Breakfasters tried to call the shots in a mobile 3-5-2, but were outwaited by
Gabriel Priebe, who fed a 54th minute free-kick to
Guan Ming Kum, before drawing Toshiki Hattori to move first for his 79th minute penalty conversion.
Spanish VI.697 favourites Maccabi were then dismisseed through
Amaya Ravula's late 79th minute flying strike from
Toh Eng Guang's vision, which had the 27 year-old lad grinning from ear to ear. "I'm starting to like this competition already!"
Grilled International matched the Birds' points record with three victories of their own, as they first defeated Chilean IV.20 club vamos guarenes 4-2 despite a solid brace by Italian Number Nine, Antonio Maestri. Equatorial Guinea III.10 promotees Rafico then put up much less of a fight, with
Chua Jun Long going for shock and awe in a 6-1 plastering. Another Italian forward in Mario Monterotti did grab a consolation 67 minutes in, as the International backline got lazy.
Austrian IV.55 entrants 1. FC Fungus were a lot harder to deal with, and had Chua not instantly answered Dominik Schuster's opener against the run of play in the 35th, it might have gone very badly indeed for International. As it was, the points didn't seem destined to come, and they had to survive a penalty shout by Kudret Samancılar, before
Stef Vreys became an unlikely hero with his 84th minute goal.