Beto Shown Way
Mottl Masterclass
This week's friendly against Ethiopian II.4 leaders Beto's Way would end in an entertaining 5-3 away win at Beto's Bunker, with the decorated hosts overturning Grilled's initial advantage at one point. Czech reserve attacker
Prokop Mottl would steal the show today as he shone from the right wing, and claimed a top-class hat-trick against a slow-seeming Jörg Neuhauser.
Now, it wasn't as if Beto's Way were taking this too seriously either, as they filed out in a standard 4-4-2, led by Polish fullback Mariusz Biront. Newly-recruited Italian head coach Jerin Demiri has not hidden his ambition for Beto's to promote to the first division, as affiliate club L.R. Vicenza Int. has done in Curaçao with the Promé Divishon, which would be reflected in his costly purchases of Txema Somellera and Valentin Degange in recent weeks. Neither would feature today, however, with the duo preserved for more important occasions.
Bakhtiar had much the same idea, as he again gave
Manuel Vadalà a stint in goal, with Mottl and fellow Czech
Radovan Jaška tasked with supporting
Kalki Parvathaneni in the frontlines. This was not to say that they were limited to assisting the Number Ten, and after a couple of encouraging but prematurely-stopped dribbles by Jaška, Mottl would be left with sight of goal in the 14th minute, as the home team's defenders not unreasonably made shackling Kalki their priority. A mistake, as it turned out, from how Mottl bent it into Janne-Pekka Kauppi's far top corner, despite the tight angle.
That did not dampen Beto's Way's playstyle much as they took it in their stride, and the next twenty minutes or so had them catch Grilled out not once but twice, bypassing the midfield each time. Andrzej Grzech exhibited great control to keep the ball in against
Toma Tamiya on a crossfield forty-yarder in the 27th minute, and his diagonal cross was then met firmly by the head of French veteran Adam Ould Fella, for an equalizer breathtaking in its simplicity. They then went ahead five minutes later, with Grabulosa slicing through the middle with his punt out from the back, and Paolo Trionfini acting on it with a magnificent half-volley that left Vadalà flailing at air.
The Birds were not to be outdone so easily, and they were back level in a jiffy. Toma might have been left wanting defensively against Grzech, but the 21 year-old had bags of energy to spare if nothing else; he would race down the touchline and then toward the inside as Biront closed, and managed to get it to
Sølve Lunde before being tackled. Lunde had the presence of mind to release it to Mottl, who scored again with yet another nerveless stunner.
Douglas Carapaica is becoming something of a cult figure at The Cooking Pot with his mannerisms - and his penchant for putting some seriously good shots in from deep - and he would live up to that status today, with his goal in the 38th minute. With the ball squared from the right, Douglas swung hard at it, and a good bounce took it past Kauppi, who looked furious with himself. The goalkeeper would have to put himself together quickly as Grilled went at him again soon after the restart, and this time he got his hands on
Radovan Jaška's attempt.
Toma's contributions would not keep him from getting subbed out for
Wu Jinglong for the second half, but the gap in class would be swiftly evident, for all the sixteen years between the two. Wu's intelligent movement and decision-making would have the Beto's team unconsciously shift wholesale towards his flank, from how
José Luiz Velho had the whole left side to himself in the 52nd minute, but
Prokop Mottl still much much to do, with Velho's cross marginally behind him. No problem for Mottl, however, whose confidence was at the point where he could fling himself into a bicycle kick, without a second thought. The connection wasn't the best, but the unexpectedness of the move remained sufficient to get it over the line.
There was a brief stoppage as Kauppi argued that he had slung the ball out before it had fully crossed over, but Peruvian referee Jorge Luis Pantoja was hearing nothing of it. An aggrieved Beto's would be driven to get their own back at that, and after winning a corner from the kick-off, Belgian midfielder Jorgen Gilis would glance a technically-brilliant header inches high. Gilis would soon be replaced by Bogdan Dybowski on the head coach's command, though the latter might have regretted it leading to Kalki's neat putaway, as
Gilbert Webb exploited his not being able to be offside from a throw-in. 2-5.
The Birds had a couple of good chances following that, but it clearly wasn't
Radovan Jaška's day, as he struck the crossbar after facing Kauppi down upon slipping through some two minutes later.
José Luiz Velho had no better luck after doing well to elude Beto's midfield shield for his powerful strike in the 78th minute, which moreover led to a huge goal-kick, and a good reducer from Biront.
Bhavya Panigrahi would make way for
Chirag Thevar before Grilled kicked off again, but other than a yellow card for Paolo Trionfini's overboard hassling of the new man, the remainder of the game would be largely unremarkable.
