Frater Not
Mohd Jafni Crocked
Recent Bolivian III.6 winners Fraternidad - just rechristened from Fraternidad Quitachiyu - were drubbed 1-6 by Grilled Birds at their Aranyeli Nuñez stadium tonight. Fraternidad enjoyed a relationship with Santa Cruz Copa Bolivia holders Xvelum similar to that which the Buns had with the Birds, as two increasingly-remarkable teams from the same country; Fraternidad, though clearly a ways behind Xvelum, had been making a name for themselves, and were sitting on an eleven match competitive winning streak, for one.
This friendly, then, would not be an accurate reflection of their strengths, what with most of their big names - such as hometown favourite Fabio Saucedo, national U-20 midfielder - sitting it out. For leadership, the navy-clad hosts would look mostly to Scots leftback and captain Adam MacNaught, while leaving scoring duties to English journeyman striker John Sumner. Grilled did field some backups too, mostly in defence where
Krystian Rykowski,
Hoàng Trung Quá and
Mohd Jafni Abdul Majid started, but were otherwise stacked.
The consequences were then entirely predictable, with the Birds soon making the middle of the park their own.
Vikram Mudaliar wouldn't repress his urge to go on goal despite starting behind the front ranks, and
Moey Xin Seng was only too happy to oblige, swapping positions with Mudaliar in the tenth minute for the Number Nine to advance with ball at feet. Defender Tupak Gamarra got caught up by Mudaliar's long strides, and couldn't interfere as he put his shot away against the rooted José Genovard.
There would then be a wince-inducing incident, as
Mohd Jafni Abdul Majid inadvertently put his family jewels on the line against Sumner's unrestrained shot. Mohd Jafni's spirit was willing, but his bits were bruised, and Noubaryan would rightly take him off for a sympathetic
Gilbert Webb.
A rapid exchange saw Mudaliar score his second goal in the 35th minute, after Moey's winding dribble had been recersed into a close shave by Sumner; Fraternidad would then pull one back through young Kenzo Dorado, playing only his fourth game at senior level, as he got picked out by fellow trainee Enrique Sisterón on a committed advance.
Moey Xin Seng would try for the top corner from a corner kick with six minutes remaining in the half, but skewed his looping header slightly to the left.
Bhavya Panigrahi replaced
Kalki Parvathaneni in midfield for the second half, and it didn't take very long for the red-blooded defender to get booked, as he set upon Hortensio García racing down the touchline. Grilled's advantage in possession remained in place though, and
Chan Ze Han would calmly await an opportune moment to procure a through pass, in the 68th minute. Mudaliar supplied the assist, and Chan slotted it past Genovard on automatic.
4-1 came when
Bernie Egan fired at will in the 76th, and there could be no doubt left as to which team would come out ahead here.
José Luiz Velho subbed on for a relatively quiet
Neeraj Muthyala, right as Mudaliar's dash into the penalty area drew a belated trip from Gamarra. There was some discussion about who would take the spot kick, with Panigrahi and
Bilal Mohammad Harun good-naturedly playing rock-scissors-paper for it, and the latter would coolly put it high and out of Genovard's reach.
There would be one more goal for Grilled, with
Moey Xin Seng booming it home from over twenty-five yards, before the match had to be stopped for Hortensio García's knee to be examined. The Fraternidad Number Ten was well enough to limp off under his own power, and Bolivian youth international and fan favourite Fabio Saucedo would entertain for the remaining ten minutes.
