Grilled Birds 1 - 2 [a.e.t]
Zastava 
Zastava Zip Through
Zvonimir Levels
Grilled went crashing out of the Hattrick Masters in the preliminary round, but came oh-so-close to sweet victory before
Au-Yong Siu-Yue's departure in mid second half precipitated a Zastava fightback. Zastava's Croatian national goalie Ladislav Coric was his team's true hero, as he stopped Grilled from gaining an unassailable lead early on.
Zastava, dressed in their traditional grey checks, also had Japanese international midfielder Sakutaro Kagawa and ex-national strikers Blahoslav Walenta and Zvonimir Benak in the outfield. Thousands of representatives from their official supporters' organization, the Supreme Archangels, added colour to a crammed The Cooking Pot by waving white and grey scarves.
Not to be outdone, the Grilled faithful unveiled a huge green and silver banner celebrating Grilled being the first Singaporean side to play in international club competition. Outside the stadium, furtive touts clandestinely sold off tickets to ready buyers more than willing to pay several times the original price, and another ten thousand perhaps made do with watching the game on a large projection screen.
Grilled started fast off the mark, and Dutch ex-wonderkid
Hidde van Liere jinked clear of Henriksen as Martinsson played the ball forward from the kick-off. van Liere held the ball up while taking it to the corner flag, and managed to release it between two defenders for Wai-Kin to hit. There was a mighty roar of anticipation, but Wai-Kin got only the heel of his boot to it and badly skewed it out of play.
Zastava, a tough team to beat as evidenced by their current 14 game unbeaten run, had an off day trying to attack on the break but fared better in patiently building up, continental style. Estonian midfielder Oliver Hääl saw Falkbo's hesistation and got onto Walenta's floated ball over the defence, but Abed-Sulaiman pulled off a stunning save to direct the ball around the upright.
van Liere was a constant thorn to Zastava on his preferred right flank, and Grilled were only too happy to let him lead the offense. Delighting the home fans with his willingness to take on all comers, he lost the ball once or twice but did get a superb cross through to Martinsson. Coric covered well, though, and denied Martinsson with his feet.
Au-Yong Siu-Yue was flashed the first yellow card for not pulling out of a challenge on Henriksen, who had just twisted his way out of a double team. The match was stopped for a few minutes while the physios came on, and the Grilled team took the opportunity to get a re-briefing by team captain Falkbo.
Whatever he said, it must have worked as Grilled began involving the previously anonymous Han Kok more. Now stretched for width, Zastava became thin in the middle of their three-man defence. Eventually, Han Kok bought himself space to cross with a neat 180-degree turn and spun a waist-high ball into the Zastava six-yard box.
This time, even Coric was helpless as Martinsson staked out the ideal receiving position, and he could not help but watch Martinsson's fierce drive take a bounce off the turf and snake into the far corner. It was the 225th career goal for a man born to be a legend, and Martinsson courted a booking by pulling his jersey over his face to reveal a T-shirt that so boldly predicted the event.
Grilled were in high spirits and more or less controlled the flow of the game, with
Shen Kek-Tjiang back to something like his best. Paullin made a fair impersonation of the injured Rottman as he obediently played the role of water-carrier, and covered probably the most ground of any player in the first half.
In the 54th minute,
Cao Wai-Kin was put through by some top-drawer interpassing, with Siu-Yue finally seizing the instant with a reverse pass. Wai-Kin won the physical battle with Everstål, but not the mental one as he traded accuracy for power. The shot was later clocked at over 150km/h, but only succeeded in destroying an unfortunate photographer's equipment.
Zastava, seeing the match trickle though their hands, began to show yet more aggression in their tackling. The referee made do with verbal warnings, so it was inevitable that a really bad one would soon occur. Niklas Engsten, known for being a firebrand who defends from the front, undid Siu-Yue with a monster of a slide. For the second time in as many matches, Danish lad
Terkel Borup had to warm up hastily and replace a fallen comrade.
Borup, for all his promise, had little experience on this sort of stage, and was overawed by the atmosphere. He let his man pass him several times, and did not offer anywhere near the cutting edge that Siu-Yue had as he tried to do too much. Kek-Tjiang did double duty in defensive midfield now, and even searched out Wai-Kin with a glorious fifty-metre artillery shell that the Singaporean forward mishit yet again.
Zastava were not done, and the next Grilled star to be felled was the influential
Hidde van Liere. Hääl was the culprit this time as he ran right through the winger in his haste to reach the ball, and van Liere never looked the same again for the rest of the game.
Hääl's yellow card looked like a steal as Zastava regained the upper hand, with Grilled looking totally confused as to their endgame tactics. van Liere could no longer while away the seconds with his stunts, and with Siu-Yue gone no-one had the ability to unlock defences consistently the way he had.
Now pressed into perpetual defence, Grilled had hoped to close shop for the final ten minutes, but Zastava were too experienced not to make the most of the situation. After three corners in a row, Blahoslav Walenta finally crafted a fine corner that the imposing Benak nodded in from a metre. Grilled were clearly badly affected, and the concerned crowd roused them with unabated chanting.
Grilled could now only realistically hold out till the spot kicks, where their dead ball specialist Sid and the unflappable Martinsson could take their chances against Coric - and hope that Abed-Sulaiman stops a few into the bargain. They were always just a hair's breadth from defeat as Sakutaro Kagawa, owner of 65 Japanese caps, clattered a sitter off the woodwork, but two minutes later Bladell made no mistake as Grilled's tiring men couldn't catch him in time.
