A Against Luanda
Frentic Finish
Grilled worked their way to an encouraging 5-1 home victory in an exhibition game against the backup squad of reigning Angolan national champions Luanda United FC, who did feature top Italian playmaker Odoacre Baccari in a starring role. Certainly, he wasn't able to turn their fortunes around without a proper cast, but it might have been just as well with several players coming out sore and bruised towards the end.
Though Luanda were without most of the men who had led them to a title defence, an air of expectation still hung about them, and trainee forwards Filippo Baldasso and Kavous Baharmast served as each others' foil well. Despite that, Grilled were indisputably in command, and
Colby Awyong was in luck with his strange chip in the 15th minute over Nedjeljko Tuna, who was doing a cameo between the posts.
Baccari was not taking it easy, and he created a superb shooting chance through sheer persistence in the 20th minute, with the help of quick feet from Baharmast. Reserve goalkeeper
Krystian Rykowski's hands were no less fast, however, and Baccari's effort went a-begging.
While Baldasso in particular delighted even the home fans with his imagination, only the Birds had the end product, and
Chow Ying Lee nicked one of
Gene Filippone's free-kick setups for 2-0.
Tian Yonghang upped that in the 39th, which led to some unhappiness from Kazakh forward Igor Sidorin, who felt that Tian fouled him in the process. No dice, as Sidorin got carded for dissent instead.
The second half had a more cautious Luanda fending Grilled off till the 74th minute, when Filippone struck a sweet grounder past Tuna, before being replaced by Nicula Vandeneynde. Filippone might not have known it, but he was about to miss much of the best action.
It began when Tian got through and got his shot off on the edge of the box only to be cut down by Juan Ignacio Ceballos, who was booked as teammates stopped the two from getting close and personal. The free-kick didn't come off, and Ryszard Kuras hit it straight at Rykowski on a lightning counter, before
Low Aik Jia found the bar as the ball was lumped right back.
The spectators hardly had time to catch their breath, when the overworked referee finally noticed that Tuna was groaning on the grass, still clutching the ball. Apparently, Chow had gone head-first into his chin without looking.
Ceballos finally claimed Luanda's consolation with a fine lob, which he celebrated with perhaps just a bit too much passion for a friendly. However,
Ling Fuquan cancelled it almost immediately, and Ceballos wouldn't stay on the pitch for the final whistle, as he kept up his argument over that goal with the officials after his final warning.
Tian could have gotten a sixth, but veteran replacement keeper Lito Nino proved his worth with a fantastic stop.
