Maradonnas Missed
Chia Finale
Reigning Saudi Al Dawry Al Momtaz national champions Desert Maradonnas accepted Grilled Birds' invitation for a friendly at The Cooking Pot, and the some 6,250 ticket-holders who turned up for the spectacle would bear witness to ten goals, and maybe a coming-of-age by 21 year-old midfielder
Chia Kwang Tse. Never a prolific scorer for the Birds, with just three goals in sixty official appearances for the club, Chia would match that tally in a single game, with a hat-trick today.
It was hardly going to be an easy one, as Maradonnas boss Bradley Monk brought a largely regular side, mixed with some reserves. 31 year-old Angolan national star Carlos Maria Ramos captained the side from midfield, with former Saudi international Qassim Al-Habsi taking the left wing in support of ex-Costa Rican youth international Sergio Vega. Vega's national teammate Hansel Prada was here too, and if this Maradonnas side had any glaring weakness, it would have to be 18 year-old backup goalie Houd Sabet, who has just two senior matches to his name.
The home fans were well up for this one, with all those big names on offer, and it was the visitors who took more risks with their play early on, which turned out well for them. Qassim Al-Habsi dragged
Enrique Baena this way and that with his stuttering dribbles on the left touchline, which resulted in an oddly-angled cross in the seventh minute, that
Manuel Vadalà misjudged coming in; it seemed to have too much on it for Guillermo Macías too, but the Belgian winger somehow reached it on the bounce with his right foot, and spun it in for 1-0.
The terraces weren't too dismayed as they drank up the atmosphere, or not yet anyway with the Birds still coping decently otherwise. Baena was not about to roll over, and he would bring some flair of his own in the 20th minute, in scampering down the right to set
Aw Keng Chuan for one-all.
Gandhik Chitre then slammed it straight back off the crossbar on the next advance, forcing a foul by the Maradonnas defence in clearing, which in turn had
Teo Chuan Yong somehow get his free-kick through the wall, and past a confused Sabet - who may have a lot to learn.
Grilled's urgency diminished at that, and Maradonnas were not eager to force the issue either, although their forwards were still causing quite a bit of trouble off the ball. Half-time had Baena off for
Paulino Trindade as Tian made it a priority to shackle Al-Habsi, with Bilal then following for
Kalki Parvathaneni to do his thing, after sixty minutes. The visitors then made their play in the 72nd as
Manuel Vadalà pulled off an excellent parry against Sergio Vega, but Ameen Shirazi was there to bump
Atang Mangoye off the ball, and complete the job to make it 2-2.
It became a glorified shootout now as the match saw four goals in the next five minutes without even changing the overall state of the game, with
Radovan Jaška first responding with an inspired chip, only for Macías to return the initial favour with some incredible pace to take him past three men, to assist Al-Habsi for Maradonna's third. While the Belgian definitely created that all by himself, Al-Habsi's own speed in following it up was nothing to overlook either.
The Birds were not slowing yet, and attacked Al-Habsi's flank from kick-off, correctly judging that he had not fully recovered from his previous sprints. That had
Paulino Trindade drop a cross on the head of
Chia Kwang Tse, who demonstrated excellent heading technique to guide the ball down and into the far bottom corner of goal. Al-Habsi then pulled Maradonnas level yet again, however, as he led a breakaway following a
Teo Chuan Yong free-kick buried in the defensive wall.
Thirty minutes of added time seemed to be on, but Chia would deny the fans that treat, as he fired two goals home in injury time. Aw had exited for
Ibnou Balde by then, but it was
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan's movement that made those for him, as the Turkish wide forward exploited a heavy-legged Qais Khadhemi, to open the door for this lesser-spotted Chia treble.
