Checking Out Tehran
Bentoumi Defiance
Grilled Birds' final World Battle tournament assignment of the campaign took them to the Iranian capital, where they met II.4 challengers IFC Perspolis at the Red Stars Arena. The recent Battle for Division III champions had just promoted last year, and are on track for a third-place finish with Anarchy players and Real Amoy tussling for the title. IFC Perspolis' own hopes had ended after a 1-3 away defeat to Mamoosh last weekend, which had the hosts' Aussie former youth international Zachery Grace taken off with a knee concern.
The club has steadily risen up the Iranian league system, especially after the management aborted their IFC Chelsea spin-off in England, as homegrown player-coach Ali Baba Salari appears to have solidified his squad, with Austrian playmaker Roman Kočera their only big purchase for several seasons. Kočera would captain their team in his comeback after being injured in a friendly against Frichatel Drago last week, as Baba Salari took central defence himself.
IFC Perspolis midfield has often been assessed as their relatively weakest link in an overall formidable lineup, that is probably most well-known for the wing tandems of Latinos Néstor Garavano and Francisco Plaza Ronda on the right, and Euros Matteo Purkl and Maurizio Panzieri on the left. French Number Ten Mahieddine Bentoumi would be their main target in attack, not being on one of his wingback sabbaticals, with Madagascar goalkeeper Imaso Andriamihaja behind it all.
Grilled Birds for their part put out
Hisham Zubari in midfield while keeping
Lim An Keng and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul on the bench, and in any case the advantage they won in the middle of the park was enough to set them comfortably ahead by the tenth minute.
Chad Thach discovered the coverage of Baba Salari and Panzieri somewhat lacking, and with Mexican stopper Benito Suárez having his own hands full with
Ananda Hettiarachchi, it would not be long before he put two goals past Andriamihaja from fairly mundane attacking combinations.
The home team were undaunted by the early setbacks, and would return the favour in part some four minutes after Thach's second. Bentoumi had been enjoying a good season with fourteen official goals, and he again exhibited the knack for improvisation that had seen him eke out not a few from unappetizing positions before. Certainly, some other forwards might not have recognized Néstor Garavano's pass for its potential, but Bentoumi left
Radomil Marcol no chance by stylishly hooking it over him with the back of his left heel.
There would be no clean sheet for Marcol on his thirty-fourth birthday, then, but he would at least concede no more for the rest of the day. The Birds were very successful in their keep-ball routine from here on, if not their finishing. The rest of the half yielded just one more goal after
Hwang Teck Fu mopped up
Phillip Nagata's rebound off the upright in the 20th minute, as he then wasted a great chance in the 30th, before Andriamihaja saved off
Houssam Belhocine and Nagata in turn.
The match resumed under a cloudy sky that apparently helped to moderate the temperature, which suited the Grilled visitors just fine. Home darling Kourosh Honarmand had been winning his fair share of challenges, but an exception against
Hisham Zubari in the 57th minute led to the Birds' fourth.
Genki Nagano had come up in support, and it was the Grilled captain who went it himself after Zubari rolled it across, shooting well from just inside the penalty area.
It was simply not
Phillip Nagata's day in contrast, with the talented winger surging past Panzieri on the hour, only to send an impressive strike whistling barely over the crossbar.
Hwang Teck Fu's unapologetically physical approach would prove far more effective, as he nudged Baba Salari out of his way in chasing down
Chia Kwang Tse's blocked effort, for 5-1. The IFC Perspolis head coach was sporting enough about it, and accepted Hwang's helping hand after.
There would be a fine header off a Nagata cross in the 75th minute by
Wu Ping De, but Imaso Andriamihaja watched it all the way, and tipped it over at the peak of his leap. The hosts did not stop angling for a second either, but
Radomil Marcol made a pair of saves several minutes later, with the second off Néstor Garavano being especially remarkable for the reflexes on show. Lim, Marzuki and
Paulino Trindade then entered for the last ten minutes, but failed to leave their mark.
