Aztec Scalped
Bernie On The Double
This quarterfinals of the Emerald Challenger Cup was never particularly close, as Division Four leaders Aztec Warri0rs lost 0-6 without once managing a shot on
Manuel Vadalà. However, for a club into only their third full season, this had to be an achievement nevertheless.
And none more so than for French midfield general Joël Brand, who currently shares a spot at the top of the cup scoring charts, with six goals so far in the tournament - including two against newbies are newbies last week. He had moreover been the central figure in both their single-goal victories on the way, swinging a free-kick home first in their 2-1 versus 43v3r before eventually becoming captain on player-coach Nicola Tropea's departure, then marshalling them directly from kick-off against TanLucky Rangers in the fourth round. The S$400,000 paid French sixth division side FC Parc Méric for Brand has been touted as one of Tropea's best deals, for good reason.
None of this would succor the Warri0rs today, though, and 19 year-old Romanian goalkeeper Marius Olteanu actually had an excellent day, despite the final scoreline. Tropea had, for any reason, maintained his team's usual wide 3-5-2 today, despite it being hardly suited against the Birds. One could hardly ask Goh Chao Ping to mark three of Singapore's best by himself, and
Kalki Parvathaneni would be left free to make the first powerful strike towards the top right in the fourth minute - that was well saved.
Olteanu would receive a series of head-rubs out of gratitude from his defence there, and there would be many more to come, even before the first half-hour was out. It was hard to tell how any keeper could have done much better in that period, as Olteanu followed with brilliant stops from
Mateja Jeftić and
Vikram Mudaliar, punching it away each time with an authority that belied his age. True,
Kalle ter Berg would arc a header over him in the 17th off
Salah Kamel's late-plunging cross, but saving that was surely not a reasonable expectation.
Aztec Warri0rs were getting to closer to getting their strikers - Phua Xin Jian and Mahesh Chegondi - into the game where they were meant to, however, as both were only too occupied in midfield. Hopes of a comeback after somehow nicking an equalizer would greatly diminish as
Bernie Egan found Grilled's second goal, as
Gilbert Webb pumped the ball right back into the ball, off the save from Mudaliar;
Chan Ze Han helped it on with his shoulder, and Egan put in the volley past Olteanu.
Dutch referee Ienske Swier okayed the goal after protests from the Warri0rs led to a review, and Grilled weren't long in really rubbing it in, after that. The opponents would finally be driven to take risks, and this didn't go well for them, as Kalki would be freed down the left, having wrested the ball off young Argentine winger Martín Principi. Kalki would be confronted by a surfeit of options, and he went long across to
Chu Xin Lee, who feinted his finish before expertly shifting the ball across himself, and tapping it past the committed goalie.
3-0 was enough for
Hilal Bakhtiar to give
Bhavya Panigrahi his first appearance in four matches, with the off-form defender replacing
Mateja Jeftić for the second half. Truth be told, neither would have much if any actual defending to do throughout. Aztec Warri0rs moreover seemed to have little idea on how to force their way back, but that did mean plenty of bodies for the Birds to have to work their way through, as their opponents stayed deep en masse.
Grilled would ironically find the most of the chances coming in from wide, as the Warri0rs team compressed itself;
Salah Kamel was doing some good work against Joni Rossi and Pierre-Éric Robart on the right side, and the Palestine midfielder would feed
Bernie Egan in the 60th minute. There was a hint of offside, later dismissed, as Egan confronted Olteanu as Chu did before him, but instead opted to dart down the inside. That last touch might have been a bit heavier than Egan had intended, but he managed to catch up with it, to squeeze it home.
5-0 came from a pretty-standard build-up getting through to Mudaliar, but Grilled's sixth and final goal in the 84th minute may deserve a fuller recounting. While there was hardly any possibility of going through, Olteanu did no hard to his growing reputation, with a diving save off Ter Berg's diving header. If that were not enough, he would get in the way of Mudaliar's follow-up as Egan got to the loose ball first, but a humourless
Chan Ze Han would not have it passed up a third time. Still, a superb effort from the young goalkeeper, duly recognized by even some of the Birds fans.
There would be a booking for Lim Kang Tze, for his part in slyly holding
Teo Chuan Yong back in the thick of the action, but no more goals as the Warri0rs survived the next wave of Grilled assaults.
Wu Jinglong would come on for Chu in the last minute, and was left dribbling when the final whistle was blown.
