Giving Life To Goals
Egemen Says Hi
The ink might have barely dried on his spanking-new five-year contract with Grilled Birds, but there was no way that
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan was about to miss this friendly against Bahraini III.10 hosts, Football is Life. He would link up with the squad for the first time having rushed from the airport to Dani Rojas Arena by cab, and would live up to expectations and more with a barnstorming display from the left, capped by a good goal.
An associate of former Portuguese Taça Challenger Rubi de Portugal champions Torpedo de Nevogilde, Football is Life - originally A.D.C.A. Al-Varães - had not yet been able to scale the same heights. An exodus over the past couple of seasons had not contributed either, with hotly-watched Polish striker Robert Radziemski also moving to Czech sixth division leaders SDH Mistřovice, about a fortnight ago. What faced the Birds, then, was a hodgepodge everywhere but attack, where FIL retained Italian stars Candido Diana and Nicola Raspanti, with Mongolian Saihan Yesukai slotting in between them.
The Birds would have Ferzan at left wing with
Bilal Mohammad Harun joining
Aw Keng Chuan at the back, and if the newcomer could not be expected to have much if any chemistry with his teammates, he didn't need to. Tian had clearly instructed him to just do his thing, and so he did, to Rudy Euvrard's increasing despondence. The opening goal wasn't anything new in contrast, as Bilal bashed his way up in the fourth minute, and caught Abbas AL Khathlan napping with a low screamer.
The initial attention on Ferzan would fade naturally as the half wore on, with it being four for Grilled by the 33rd minute, as they fell back on well-worn patterns through the middle. FIL's near non-existent midfield didn't call for much invention, to be fair, and the Birds would score through Kalki, Teo and
Hwang Teck Fu, in that order. Bilal had another go in the 27th minute too from quite a bit closer up, but rushed it unnecessarily.
Half-time saw
Chia Kwang Tse on for
Lim An Keng per the script, and Hwang rotate inside for
Mohd Marzuki Khairul, who had been tidy but not particularly productive from the centre. The home team would fare quite well for the next twenty-five minutes or thereabouts, which saw Ferzan helpfully being supplied the ball by his new gang, only to be unable to supply the end product. This was not wholly his own failing, with FIL sporting a compact low block.
Their resistance could not last indefinitely with Grilled putting some quite attractive combinations together, and
Kalki Parvathaneni would carry on where he had left off in the eighteenth minute, with an oh-so-subtle flick with the outside of his boot, despite Salvador Colín hassling him. The home fans would not be unduly deprived forever either, and they would have a splendid Saihan Yesukai strike to celebrate in the 78th minute, after Diana had skinned Bilal down the left. That made it 1-5, then.
The moment the lucky few Birds supporters in attendance had been waiting for was to follow soon after, as Ferzan scooped up the debut goal that he so richly deserved. His unflagging dribbles had surely won him a few hearts amongst the locals too, and when defender Jawad AL Buflasa was finally pressed into miscontrolling the ball in the 82nd minute, few could have complained when Ferzan latched onto it.
Chad Thach then made it seven for the Birds as FIL's backline started wobbling mightily, and although Nicola Raspanti tried to buy them some time with some playacting on the ground, it wouldn't be enough, as Ferzan carried on with referee Juha Tissari unimpressed. Ferzan's shot would be blocked by AL Khathlan, but
Chan Ze Han wasn't about to miss out from the scoresheet - and as for Raspanti, he wouldn't escape the booking sadly.
