Experience Hard Earned
"Well, what can I say?"
Hovaness Noubaryan said, equal parts dejected and indignant. "Paladins as a whole had too much class, but I'm not sure I can say that about their Number Fourteen."
Noubaryan then confirmed that Grilled had come close to signing former Singapore U-20 stopper NS Kumaraswamy, but Italian club A.s.d. Se7en eventually prevailed with a S$13.4 million offer. "Gifted as he is, I don't think even he could have made much of a difference today, in all honesty."
Chan Ze Han, who was almost completely nullified by Tomasz Ceranka on the pitch, preferred to look on the bright side. "We did about all we could against the reigning national champs. They sure deserve their titles, we had very little to work on. But we'll get better."
Massoud Dob is now in a race to face Controlar in the Ruby Challenger Cup next Wednesday, but with the likes of Be Champions FC, FC Barca Singapore and -= Manchester United =- entering the competition after upsets today, it'll be an uphill battle for the Birds to get their third Ruby trophy.
It went rather better for the Farmer Bunnies, who dispatched Division Two leaders Sim(TM) almost lazily. The Buns set a slow pace by design, which they might have regretted had Sim(TM) managed to make them pay in a spirited end to the first half.
Vishnu Tallapaka would then hit the crossbar from a free-kick, but he made no such mistake when presented with the same opportunity against Ottokar Recke in the 69th minute.
Though
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany and
Kwek Yun Jie missed chances that would have made the Buns much more secure, Sim(TM) didn't manage anything more than a marginal opening that Heng Long Lee missed, which meant that Tallapaka's goal would be the winner.
This sees them pitted against II.2's Mia San Toa Payoh - who eliminated DuNdUn FC via a Jerry Lim double - next.
Sikong Darong recognized Toa Payoh's strengths in possession, as well as their star power in national striker Tan Tong Leong, but was also confident about his squad's capability to handle them.
"They had trouble against mosueinashuebox, and I daresay we'll not be easier to get through."
In a friendly held in the Netherlands, Grilled International lost 1-2 to Division Six hosts feyenoord-rotterdam, despite getting over sixty percent of the possession. Poor finishing was their downfall, with
Subhi bin Hj Ahmad at least ensuring that they had a little something to remember, with his eye-catching rush in the 57th minute.
