Răducu Overtime
Chia Cuts Corners
It would be Romania for the midweek friendly, as Grilled Birds visited Hattrick Anniversary League side Răducu, who have adopted the same RDU nickname as their former Ivory Coast Trophée Rubis winners predecessors. Turkish gaffer Samim Çağa has yet to bolster his squad, however, and moreover has left top forward Bogdan Dihoru on the bench, leaving the promising 19 year-old Péter Gajdócsi to carry most of the attacking burden. He would have the very stable Răzvan Bocicor as captain in goal, though - whose contributions would be made known very soon indeed.
The Birds had arrived with an appropriately pared-down starting XI too, of whom the biggest name was probably
Aw Keng Chuan, who returned to his preferred central midfield role.
Mohsen El Khateeb would get a rare chance at forward, with
Atang Mangoye filling in at sweeper. Goalkeeper
Manuel Vadalà would not be left out either, as
Tian Yonghang hinted that he might yet be in contention for first choice - but would need to prove himself again.
But back to the match, there would be little time wasted in it revving up to full speed, if with more heedless dribbling than might be optimal.
Enrique Baena was never shy about such, and would win a penalty in the fifth minute, after his mad rush from the left would draw a rash and probably unnecessary shoulder charge from Adrian Kolyadov. After some conferring,
Radovan Jaška would step up for the shot... and tried to be too cute with his delivery straight down the middle.
That backfired totally with Bocicor having seen through his intent, but there would be no wallowing in the embarassment, as the game carried on. The next big chance would be the hosts', with Marius Mocian bending in a cross on that very fluid left flank, one that Dragoş Chiurtu nodded barely wide of the near post. This was followed by a 17th minute corner that Mangoya flicked on for Aw, who just missed the connection, and then an extended run by Adrián Madai that ended with an ambitious drive that went powerfully wide.
Matters were also getting heated up all this while, with the RDU fans never quite getting over Baena's perceived dissimulation early on, and this would degenerate into a spate of yellow cards for the home team. Péter Gajdócsi, Madai and then Mocian would be booked in the space of eight minutes, twice for savage tackles on the Spanish youngster, who only added fuel to the fire with his reactions. The Birds were not completely in the clear either with
Yee Jian Hui making to start some nonsense as the half ended, which was not missed by Russian referee Pavel Vinogradov either.
If this first half had been marked by a general buzz and a smattering of chances, the second half could only be described as dreary, with the respective coaches' instructions to focus on tactics resulting in an abundance of overthinking. Baena's withdrawal for
Paulino Trindade possibly contributed to the cooling-down, with
Dante Tran not exactly very inventive up top either, after taking over from
Mohsen El Khateeb. Muhammet Tevfik Bukle's 63rd minute card for a late trip on Tran would be the most notable event of this half, which said it all really.
Extra time would thus be recognized as inevitable long before it commenced, and one sensed that Tian at least was not too sad at testing his players' stamina here. It wasn't the best, but probably still enough to overcome the hosts', as the Grilled trainees were left to their own devices here.
Radovan Jaška would get a second chance to get one over Bocicor in the 105th minute, with a free-kick just outside the penalty area for his taking, but a good strike to the top right would be clawed behind by the goalkeeper.
Jaška would finally get his satisfaction, if indirectly, as he hung the resulting corner deep to the back post - just right for
Chia Kwang Tse to force in what would be the only goal of the day. There would then be some very bad news for veteran striker Marius Olaru, who would go to ground clutching his left knee, with just six minutes left. Bogdan Dihoru would replace him to loud acclaim from the stands, but it was surely too late for one man to turn it around.
