More Soccer To Come
Two Of Many
Grilled Birds might have defeated Finnish V.189 side FC Soccer Club 2-0 to advance in the King of Football Cup, but their supporters would be left wondering how there were only that two goals by the end, with the Birds having more or less been engaged in shooting practice, against their opponents' entirely-defensive 4-4-2.
Having yet to earn a point - or even score - in their two previous fixtures in the tournament, the bookies were not expecting much better for this, which was reflected in the betting odds. 33 year-old Brazilian forward Jael Viegas remained their undisputed star - and still well in his prime, as he made pains to emphasize. Their midfield would be a relative weakness, but the likes of Bahraini national prospect Baha al Din Al-muhza made their backline a force to behold, before mentioning on-form Belize goalkeeper Raymond Sealy.
Well, Sealy would have to pick the ball out of his own net within four minutes, as Grilled made short work of their obvious counterattacking tactics. There didn't seem too much in
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko's slow waltz upfield, and homegrown playmaker Tuomas Pahankala should have read Hein's forward pass easily enough. He didn't however, and Antti Karhu was likewise slow to react, as
Lim An Keng sprinted inside to get a crisp first-time strike off.
There was an element of fortune in how the ball skipped off the turf, but Lim was not one to dwell on such. It perhaps balanced out when his sidewinder in the 25th minute smashed into the crossbar, and it was left to
Phillip Nagata to double Grilled's lead on the half-hour, after several to-and-fro passes had lulled the FC Soccer Club backline into complacency.
That was all that Sealy would give up for today, as he played a blinder for the remaining hour of gametime, beginning with a pure reflex save off
Hwang Teck Fu's piledriver from the left side in the 38th minute. There didn't seem any way he could have blocked it after Hwang had turned Puolamäki inside-out and then tapped it past Sealy, but the goalkeeper somehow recovered from the ground.
The second half started slowly with FC Soccer Club making it a priority to settle the game down, but there was no postponing Grilled's advances forever. Sealy was back doing the impossible against
Ananda Hettiarachchi in the 65th minute, and his tipping aside of
Chia Kwang Tse's lob four minutes later would spark his team's first serious counter. Antti Karhu knew exactly who he was aiming for with his pump upfield, but Belgian veteran Iginio Pulli had his effort caught by
Radomil Marcol.
The Birds' sustained pressure had Adrian Păuţa slip the ball to
Phillip Nagata in his own penalty area, but Nagata couldn't keep it on target - and neither could Hwang or
Hisham Zubari, in the next two minutes.
Wu Ping De's 79th minute cross was then headed marginally over by an aggressive
Johann Schwietzer, after which
Chad Thach and
Jerome Crawford replaced Chia and Zubari for the final ten minutes.
It would be FC Soccer Club to have the last say, as the Birds' throw-in after the double substitution was stolen by young winger Tomi Nappari, who laid it back for Baha al Din Al-muhza to unleash a majestic crossfield pass deep into the Grilled half. Antti Karhu reached it after the bounce, but
Johann Schwietzer didn't leave him enough time to get a good scope on.
