Long Memories
A Thach Of The Past
It was reminiscences aplenty for Birds star forward
Chad Thach at the World Elephants Arena in Zambia, as he returned to where he had played one of his first senior games for the club - and moreover scoring - even before making his official debut. Grilled Birds had lost 2-5 in their friendly fifteen years ago, with Turtles all the way down going on to pick up their first Zambian Super League title, but there could be no looking past the Number Ten today as he put five goals past Alemiddin Sanberk to rouse the African crowd.
Lim An Keng was Grilled Birds' other survivor from that visit, with the Turtles squad having fully turned over. Turtles had tasted their share of glory since then, having won everything in their country except the Sapphire Challenger Cup, but the latest decade has seen a relative drought with only the Consolation Cup and a sprinkling of Division Two and Three titles to show. German head coach Fynn Linus Frobenius has been unsparing in his efforts to take them back to the top flight, that said, and the recent acquisitions of local former youth internationals Emment Ngulube and Victor Habwaanga spoke to his vision.
Both would start today, Ngulube on the right wing and Habwaanga at leftback, with 28 year-olds Simon Maluma and Mwilola Noyoo making up the rest of their domestic three-man defence. Undisputed marquee player Laughter Katongo has been seeking to win a fifth cap with his national team, and has put in a good argument with fifteen goals thus far this season. He was moreover partnered with former Norwegian U-20 bruiser Egil Eide - who supplies the muscle, and who has junior countryman Eriq Leon Belzer coordinating in midfield.
There was not much between the teams early on, and Turtles undertook much of the initial fact-finding, as Belzer distributed the ball freely against an underperforming
Mohd Marzuki Khairul. There would not be anything to write home about all the way until the 25th minute, when Swiss partner Silas Diserens ran onto one of Belzer's tentative forward balls. The ensuing dribbled would remind as to how Diserens had been part of the bronze-winning Schweizer Nati World Cup side, as he completely overran first
Ananda Hettiarachchi and then
Johann Schwietzer before whipping a dipping drive past
Radomil Marcol.
Grilled Birds were tottering a little there, but they did not take long to compose themselves, which was helped by a long stoppage for Diego La Losa's late takedown of a mid-turn
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko. That would kick off the Birds' renaissance proper, and
Phillip Nagata equalized from a determined incursion, after the initial floated free-kick was headed clear by Noyoo. The Birds then went ahead on their next attack as
Chad Thach chipped Sanberk almost nonchalently, which would prove to be a template for what was to come.
The hosts were still bery much alive and kicking at this stage, and they would pull level five minutes later, with Emment Ngulube showing why he has been spoken of as a possibility for the Zambian national side of late. His eager chesting down of Andreas Kotsis's crossfield ball had
Lim An Keng nonplussed, and
Damian Hutter did not prove much of an obstacle against his run inside.
It was then the Birds' turn to test the opposition backline again, and after an opportunistic
Hwang Teck Fu lob came off the bar,
Chad Thach would latch onto a perfectly-weighted
Phillip Nagata assist to take it around Sanberk for 3-2. That was not even the deciding blow against the Turtles though, which would be Diego La Losa getting himself sent off for another sloppy tackle, this time on a sprinting
Lim An Keng. The referee paid no heed to the Spaniard's pleas as he reached for his book, which meant that the Turtles had to cope for the second half a man down.
Grilled wouldn't press them too readily despite that, and the first ten minutes or so would be marked by almost-casual cycling of the ball between the Birds players, if with a probing ball every now and then, usually from Ananda.
Chia Kwang Tse tried a cheeky potshot from just outside the box after being set up by
Mohd Marzuki Khairul in the 57th minute, which wasn't too far away. That was also about it for
Lim An Keng, who was pulled off for
Wu Ping De several minutes on.
Wu would immediately keep Emment Ngulube pegged back upon slotting in, and the Birds continued to rev up their tempo, if not very quickly. Belzer's competitiveness in the middle of the park actually had the Turtles almost at parity sometimes, but this could not hold, with Marzuki and Ananda combining to dispossess him in the 70th minute. The latter hit it over the top almost nonchalently, which turned out to fall exactly where
Chad Thach wanted it, as he made his move past the last man like clockwork. Alemiddin Sanberk spotted the danger and rushed the ball simultaneously, but was still second to it as
Chad Thach completed his hat-trick!
Even some of the home supporters had to begrudgingly applaud that fear, as Thach took his lap of honour across the endline. This only served to ignite the Turtles' fighting spirit, and they soon launched a fierce assault that saw Egil Eide vault
Johann Schwietzer's sliding challenge stylishly, only to run the ball right to Marcol. Laughter Katongo would finally get his opportunity after Ngulube's brief booking was served, but he could not keep his rocket of a strike on target, with it going a yard too high.
Well, he wasn't the star of the show today in any case, as
Chad Thach quickly reminded from the goal kick, which caught Silas Diserens out with its unexpectedly low bounce. Thach was onto it in a flash, and a one-two with Hwang got him a fourth goal, despite Sanberk doing well to get a touch. A fifth then followed before the dust had settled, from an almost-careless volley off a short Nagata cross, that came off his boot just right.
Turtles boss Frobenius was seen shaking his head and smiling at that, and with good reason given how no goalkeeper could have gotten to that - made all the easier by the near non-existent stakes of the match. Hwang would genuflect to Thach in good humour as he came off in the final minute for
Kendell El Khateeb, who would put in a quick bow too as he entered.
