Rex Regnum
Obeisance Obtained
The Birds crashed out of the Dominion International Cup with a 0-5 whipping by Swedish Ic side Rex Scaniae, once holders of the Rubincupen and Safircupen. This would perhaps reflect a little unfairly on Grilled's efforts, given that they had won possession after all, but it could not be denied that a gap remains between them and the best that the wider world has to offer.
Romanian fullback Cristi Curuţ would be a particular attraction for Rex Scaniae, having arrived just last week before scoring against Zorro Dribblers II in the league already, but there would be no lack of reputable names elsewhere in their lineup. Forwards Stelios Schwarz and Stefan Rydberg headlined an all-Swedish attack and midfield, with transfer-listed Alborz Amjad possibly playing his last match for the side. Behind it all was former Nicaragua national U-20 goalkeeper Cruz Luis, who would play a huge part in their commanding victory today.
The Birds rolled out a slightly-tweaked core that had
Ananda Hettiarachchi as its main offensive focal point, with
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko - on his 28th birthday - and
Aw Keng Chuan sitting back. This arrangement looked functional enough early on, and had centre forward
Mohd Marzuki Khairul put through by Ananda 18 minutes in, only for Luis to turn Marzuki's well-struck finish around the post. The delayed corner had Stanley Schwarz unleashed down the left wing after it was headed well clear by captain Staffan Schwarz at the near post, which had Alborz Amjad storm through to knock it past
Radomil Marcol.
The fans would be screaming for Amjad not to leave after he bagged a second in the 35th minute, coming after a couple close shaves from Grilled. Cruz Luis stuck a leg out to deny
Chia Kwang Tse on the half-hour, and two minutes later, he would be beaten for once by
Wu Ping De's skipping drive - only for it to flash by the outside of his goalpost. Grilled thought that an equalizer had to be nigh, but their overextension only led to Amjad blindsiding them.
It simply wasn't Grilled Birds' day as they did little enough wrong whilst on the ball, but Rex Scaniae's superlative ability to identify and attack weaknesses when they had it, would do the Birds in.
Chad Thach should have stuck it home after Marzuki's unselfish layoff in the 38th minute, but he realised the act a fraction too late, and could merely scoop it weakly into the goalkeeper's arms. The booming goal kick would be helped on towards Stefan Rydberg by a midfielder, and the inventive forward shuffled his way past
Genki Nagano for 3-0.
Grilled Birds were a shadow of themselves in the second half, and in fairness the mental strain of being three down after having done all they had, must not have been easy to bear. To make things worse, Rex Scaniae were quite dangerous once they got the ball out wide too, with homegrown winger Stig Schwarz soon regularly exposing
Wu Ping De on defence. His 50th minute cross went all the way across to Stanley Schwarz on the other flank, and thence to the accelerating Rydberg, whom
Hisham Zubari kept pace with but could never quite find the right moment to tackle safely. Marcol tried to narrow the angle, but was expertly caught out at the far post.
Four goals was enough for the Swedes to cool it down, and the next thirty minutes or so would be a pain for the Birds, who found prospective openings few and far between. Alstani's introduction of
Lim An Keng and
Hwang Teck Fu for Ananda and Marzuki with ten minutes left was far too late to expect them to make a difference, and indeed both could only watch as Stelios Schwarz headed Rex Scaniae's fifth home, before crashing a volley against the woodwork.
