Reaped By The Hurricane
Birds head coach
Tian Yonghang saw much good in
Paulino Trindade here, as the youngster bagged twice in a mature performance on the left. Tian was especially taken by the trainee's laying it on to Marzuki - who was in a better position - instead of trying for a hat-trick for himself, but a modest Trindade would reveal later that he thought it made no difference.
"We seldom see lads that put the team first to this extent nowadays." Tian praised. "Paulino has an excellent attitude, and if he keeps working at it, he will definitely be a wonderful addition."
The Buns would see off Iraqi II.1 blackshirts kickerbude at Carrot Field earlier in the day, with
Vitaliy Efendiev needing a free-kick to beat Spanish goalkeeper Alberto Elejalde from just outside the box, in the 36th minute. kickerbude's relentless pressing made advancing a pain, and it was a wonder that 39 year-old Saudi veteran
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany managed to add another later.
The match would be capped by a special on-pitch ceremony for former Farmer Bunnies star Sofian Azfar, as he became only the fifth Hall of Famer for the club. Azfar had retired from Lithuanian fourth division side FC "Kreminis Pyragas" only days ago, having won two Division Five titles with them, and the former Villains F.C. player would have his dormant nomination automatically triggered - and passed.
"Azfar is a worthy inductee, that we all agree." former head coach Sikong Darong, who had been invited to do the honours, commented. "I take it that we will be doing a lot more of these quite soon."
Grilled International's inconsistency would manifest in the worst possible way, sadly, as they crashed out of the H.I. Sapphire Challenger Cup after a 0-7 hiding by Barbados outfit FC Atlantic Hurricane. They were completely swept by the Hurricanes' 4-5-1 system, that at times appeared specifically tailored to crush them. Russian defender Yuriy Khristyuk - formerly of Greek cupwinners GGkia Crew - was particularly dominating, and former Sunny Beach Boys trainee Reginald Xiong did everything but score, after coming on late.
Wang Hanxuan was all out of excuses. "Well, you saw what happened. I suppose the fans have had enough of apologies, and I can't blame them."