All Cracked Up
Kimmo Closed Off
Grilled saw it as their reward for lifting the Cup, and boy did they milk all they could out of it, as they pipped Finnish champions Niki´s Eggmen 5-3 in a showpiece extravaganza that had it all. Those dedicated enough to make it to the MICKEY MOUSE ARENA in Réimech, Luxembourg had the time of their lives, as multiple close shaves peppered the Masters contest, before extra time brought two goals from Birds favourites to seal their passage.
Many were curious as to how the teams would turn out, particularly if the Eggmen would fight fire with fire in a 3-5-2, or go for the extra man in central defence. Their most recent fixture against Cito Palyo revealed little, as they managed a 9-1 sweep despite fielding reserves, and as it turned out Israeli coach Orin Binyamin, himself having experienced twelve Masters games, opted for the latter.
37 year-old Italian Stefano Fiorani was sacrificed in midfield for former Colombian international defender Samuel Galvis to partner Estonian Gunnar Kaal, in a starting lineup that also boasted of Danish national left winger André Aslak, and of course the Finn legend himself, Kimmo 'Jeeves' Arpiainen - seventy caps, two World Cup semifinals, and two Mestaruussarja Golden Boots has cemented his place in the European pantheon.
If it was an intimidating collection to be up against, the Birds didn't show it.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim was returned to the first XI after his weekend no-show, and he certainly didn't look like showing much respect. The only other surprise was
Abdul bin Jantan, who was chosen as a tucked-in wide midfielder; otherwise, it was exactly the same side that had earned the ticket here by winning the Cup final.
Arpiainen won the toss from
Tian Yonghang after Danish referee Nicki Jørgensen flipped a coin, and elected to kick off;
Chow Ying Lee came close to intercepting the first pass, though, which set the tone for the opening minutes, as Grilled pressed the Eggmen heavily. This effort forced a foul on the edge of the penalty area by the sixth minute, and
Wong Ping Shun dropped it over the wall, only for Elpidio Carnevale to pull off a magical save.
All that good work by the Birds went up in smoke from just one thrust by their opponents, however. Aslak dodged by
Abdul bin Jantan with a clever feint in the 13th minute, and then didn't look thirty-five at all as he blasted down the left. There didn't seem to be anyone in the box, but as the cross came in, Arpiainen popped up from nowhere to plant a solid header past
Wong Tian Han.
It was the deceptively harmless style that had seen the soft-spoken Finn polish off so many teams before today, and made his 151st career goal. Wong was left pointing fingers at
Gene Filippone, who did not take kindly to the insinuation.
Zhao Jing Wei smoothed it over and prevented Grilled from imploding, and they slowly worked their way back. The possession statistics were at least healthy for the Birds, even if the Eggmen were clearly angling to hit on the counter.
Wong Ping Shun was another plus point, as the Player of the Season kept their entire right wing hemmed in.
The Birds were still lacking that edge in attack, with Mohd Safri largely terrible on his few touches. It was not until the 35th minute that they could make it count, as Chow ran the breadth of the Eggmen backline before slipping it back inside as
Tian Yonghang made his move behind him. Galvis could not very well tackle as Tian shifted the ball onto the other side, and the Birds skipper sent a grounder past Carnevale for his maiden Masters goal.
Tian acknowledged that career highlight with relish, but Grilled were to suffer a blow once the game got back under way -
Zhu Changchun was caught a fraction of a second late by Arpiainen as he searched for a free teammate, which meant a booking for the Finn. Understandably, Zhu was desperate to rejoin the fray, but as the minutes passed on the sidelines, it became clear that he was not going to make it.
This was something of a dilemma for
Djan Bacelar, given that he had not included Grilled's only remaining midfielder of any experience,
Nicola Vandeneynde, in the matchday squad. Sizing up his options, Bacelar looked to be considering moving bin Jantan inside and putting
Low Aik Jia on, before deciding to throw on former Saudi captain
Qassem Madaini.
He might have been encouraged after watching how an Eggmen counter nearly tore through the Birds' centre while Zhu was being treated, and Grilled reached half-time level only because the usually dead-on Russian forward Nikolay Goncharov managed to hit it a yard past the post.
The early part of the second half was uneventful, with Grilled wary of overcommitting lest Eggmen break, and Eggmen themselves happy to sit back and wait for a mistake. That would not come before
Woon Shun An drilled a second home in the 70th minute - an incredible time for the box-to-box man to rediscover his scoring touch.
Eggmen immediately responded in kind. The kickoff saw them cut through the Birds' defences so easily that one wondered why they didn't just go on the offensive, and Goncharov's strike was unlucky to be deflected onto the woodwork. However, that didn't alter the end result, as the corner that followed was nodded in by English midfielder Matt Mullins.
It seemed to be the end for the Birds, after Arpiainen completed his brace two minutes later, and heads were seen drooping as the Eggmen celebrated wildly in front of their fans. At this, Madaini called for a huddle, and the Birds began a parallel discussion that went on for a while.
The Eggmen felt it safe to concentrate on defending for the last fifteen minutes, being exactly where they had planned on being, but Grilled soon showed that parking the bus was not a wise move against them.
Gene Filippone, who had proven such a valuable source of goals in last season's Cup run, equalised in the 83rd minute with a nerveless chip.
Still, Grilled were very nearly buried when a miscommunication between Wong and Filippone allowed Franziskus Stahlberger in close, but thankfully the Swiss rolled it wide with
Wong Tian Han at his mercy. Binyamin was captured turning away in frustration, but then collected himself and joined Bacelar on the sidelines to make his changes for the now-inevitable extra time.
With his players tiring just that bit faster, Binyamin opted for a double substitution, with Franco Scavazzini and Andreas Thomasson his secret weapons for the final thirty. Having been forced to put Madaini on early, Bacelar's reply was to put the by-now impatient
Low Aik Jia on to run at Niccolò Callegati, with
Abdul bin Jantan being able to look back on a job mostly well done.
Extra time started as did the match itself, with the first salvo coming from a free-kick. Again, it was missed, as Callegati sent a stormer whistling inches above the crossbar. Woon then heartbreakingly saw a lob bounce off the same after a long goal-kick downfield, as Grilled hit back.
Penalties were beginning to look more and more likely, but one man at least was not willing to let it come down to that.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim had been anonymous for the entire game, his role being reduced to playing simple short passes as his teammates adapted to his poor form, but damned if he wasn't going to stamp his mark on the big time.
Kaal, for one, must have expected that Mohd Safri would just play it safe when he received the ball with his back to goal, as he had done the entire evening. He could not have been more wrong this time. Mohd Safri spun on a pinhead, exhibiting more speed that he had done for the first 109 minutes, and set off on a beeline towards goal. He then skipped Callegati's challenge to the outside, before firing unerringly in at Carnevale's near post.
That stunned the Eggmen irrepairably, and they remained dazed when Grilled continued to press the issue. Arpiainen tried to rally his troops, but his comrades were in truth already near exhaustation, leaving fresh substitute
Low Aik Jia to weave his way by and end the argument.
A delighted Bacelar used his third and final sub to give
Che Harun bin Sabtu a Masters appearance, which the Birds forward soaked in after sharing an extended and perhaps slightly inappropriate hug with
Woon Shun An on the sidelines.
