Nuevo Held
Leijonskog Levels It
Attendance for friendlies appear to be rising as over four thousand six hundred souls sat to watch Grilled Birds challenge nuevo mundo on home ground.
Tomás Semprún Balenciaga and
Rafael García Sole got picked to face their countrymen, while Machado will sit out after featuring in Grilled's hard-fought 5-2 victory away to Manchester Town F.C. on Sunday. The odd strike pairing of
Chen Chiew-Yen and
Rushanizam Yunos looked amateurish against a stout nuevo mundo defense centered around 29-year old wide backs Edenlius and Diaz Revorio, and the struggle to push forward earned Grilled three yellow cards in quick succession, with midfielder
Zhan Ju-Hau, defender
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah and striker Yunos one after another. Magunsson caused some concern when he got liberal with his studs on Hernandez on the edge of the box, but Diaz Reverio hit the free kick tamely to Balencia. Grilled's offensive play was rewarded promptly as
Chen Chiew-Yen led a rapid counterstrike to fool David Ceballos with a disguised shot, marring an otherwise outstanding performance by the nuevo keeper.
nuevo seized the initiative in the second half after
Zhan Ju-Hau lost his temper and lashed out at central defender Anibal Rouco. Left with only Magnusson and a tiring Yew-Hoe after Ju-Hau's dishonourable discharge, nuevo controlled the center of the pitch and cherographed some beautiful plays downfield. It was not through one of these that nuevo equalised, surprisingly, as teenage Swedish playmaker Magnus Leijonskog, freshly transferred from mother side Da Winning Pipa FC, caught Balencia unprepared with the direct approach -- a thunderous strike straight into the ceiling of the goal. The frantic pace took its toll on striker Johan Cederling next, and nuevo mundo kept Grilled in their own half but did not press ahead with vigour from then on. Cereceda did try a couple of energetic runs, to no avail as Grilled Birds consolidated the draw by pulling its front pair deeper to help in midfield.
