Hard on Hardi
There was a respectful exchange after the friendly, as
Hovaness Noubaryan made a statement on behalf of the club. "We understand that it's been a difficult few weeks for Sri Lanka, and hope that peace and reason will prevail. It's a beautiful country with a fine history, and had been progressing so nicely."
On the footballing end, Noubaryan was taken enough by
Islom Davlatov's predatory instincts, to openly consider if he should be returned to the strikeforce. "We've settled on our front three for awhile, but Islom can shake it up if needed. Can't have teams getting to used to our patterns."
Fresh off their cupwinning euphoria, the Bunnies would roll over Malaysian IV.48 leaders Kakakao United by seven goals to none, in their first visit by a club from across the Causeway.
Vivian Grubenmann - fielded as a defender - would score a penalty against the Perlis-based Kakakao, who would further lose left winger Ajay Shetty to a bloody gash above the eyebrow, after stooping too low for a contested header.
Grilled International decided to field their oldies this day, and were rocked 9-0 by Kuwaiti national champions Hard en Onzuiver, who were on 23 matches undefeated; Italian superstar Gherardo Lascaro had a hat-trick by the 25th minute, with
Subhi bin Hj Ahmad recording International's only substantial shot, immediately after coming on in the 20th minute.
19 year-old trainee
Hardi bin Besar would further be sidelined with a badly-sprained wrist, after breaking his fall unwisely late in the game, but he expressed no regrets about taking part. "It's not every day you get to play such a team. I think I learnt a lot."
