Liones Go Easy
Teo Tangle
Grilled Birds' final friendly of the season would be against Ecuadorean II.4 side olimpico liones - literally from the other side of the globe - who like the Birds had won all three national Challenger Cups on offer. They would bring a reserve team anchored by 25 year-old Argentine defensive midfielder Martín Villafañe, and appeared to go through the motions in a hefty defeat.
Their choosing to match Grilled's 2-5-3 despite being unaccustomed to the formation might have much to do with how the match went, though for the Birds they certainly had no complaints about their opponents simplifying the tactical response for them. This naturally set up a series of local duels on the pitch, which the visitors did tend to get the better of in the cases of Villafañe and Hektor Unterhofer, but scarcely anywhere else.
The discrepancy was only the starker elsewhere, and if
Tian Yonghang was concerned about
Bhavya Panigrahi's shouldering all the responsibility for set pieces again for the coming season, he needn't have worried. There is no shortage of capable replacements, as
Moey Xin Seng proved when he stood over the ball in the ninth minute, lining up a dead ball some eighteen yards out. It might not exactly be his specialty, but he brought it up and over the wall - and into the back of the net - easy as pie.
Moey would have savoured
Damian Hutter's magnificent headed goal six minutes later, as the Austrian defender locked his eyes on
Hwang Teck Fu's cross as it came in, before fending off Marcelo Guerrero's concurrent leap. Moey would have it at 3-0 in a jiffy, after a penalty was then awarded for continued interference in the box, after which Villafañe managed to get things under control for the rest of the half. Liones placed their faith in shooting from distance, which
Manuel Vadalà had no problems with.
Olimpico's German player-coach Jens Fassold wasn't overly bothered as he spent the break going over positions with his squad by pitchside, although it did them little good; they would not have to deal with Moey again, at least, as
Tian Yonghang replaced his captain with
Teo Chuan Yong, and also
Chia Kwang Tse with
Chad Thach. Right forward for the day
Yee Jian Hui would resume the scoring in the 63rd, as Grilled targeted Guerrero's lack of composure on defence, allowing Yee to pick his pocket coming in from his blind side.
An encouraged Yee would have another effort barely batted upwards onto the crossbar by an overworked Johnny Sandoval, who would then suffer the indignity of being nutmegged by a rampant
Hwang Teck Fu, for Grilled's fifth goal. Marcelo Guerrero, who had been barely coping, copped a yellow card for a late lunge at Moey, but this led to a rare Liones break that had Hektor Unterhofer skew his finish marginally wide on a deflection off
Atang Mangoye, and
José Luiz Velho also booked for trying to delay the corner.
José Luiz Velho, who had been productive with two assists, would be subbed off for
Prokop Mottl ten minutes from time, which was the signal for
Enrique Baena to redouble his efforts. The Spanish Young Player of the Season wasted no time in telegraphing a one-two with Mottl, before scooping the ball inside for a cheeky if brilliant strike.
Damian Hutter closed the game off in double-quick time, nodding home from close range after Grilled flooded the right side once more.
The Birds would take a blow late on, however, as they lost
Teo Chuan Yong to an accidental blow between the legs, with five minutes remaining. Teo would get the sympathy of the audience as he struggled on the ground, before passing the captain's armband to
Manuel Vadalà and sitting out the final minutes. Not much remained to happen anyway, save some fine defensive shielding from an utterly professional Hektor Unterhofer.
