Got Sorted Out
Mihai Sez Hai
Senegalese visitors FK De Sorte Egern drummed in why they had won III.9 with ease, as the Danish FC De Sorte Egern offshoots reflect most everything that Grilled Birds flung at them, to emerge 4-2 winners on the Birds' own ground. Grantest it might not have been Grilled's very best selection, but that should take nothing away from their Spanish Number Ten Mihai Iordăchioaia, who was flawless on the counter for them - bagging all four of their goals.
Two of Grilled's out-of-favour regulars -
Chad Thach and
Chia Kwang Tse - were given the go-ahead today, and their sluggishness on the recovery hinted at why they had been dropped for the Birds' league matches recently. Of course, neither
Radovan Jaška nor
Mohsen El Khateeb were particularly convincing on defence either, and certainly not against forwards the calibre of Iordăchioaia and Fernando Mínguez Ochoa. Otherwise, it was a fairly modest lineup by Sorte, for whom Lithuanian sweeper Bernardinas Knečūnas shouldered much of their hopes.
There could be no reprisals were Knečūnas to fail in his task, after all, and there was much work to be done by him today. Grilled were not prepared to wait too long, and they would attempt to force matters through sheer numbers early on.
Aw Keng Chuan would actually come close on
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan's flat cross in the 13th minute, but the miss and quick goal-kick would see Mihai Iordăchioaia unleashed for the opener at the other end, slick as anything.
That should have been sufficient warning about Iordăchioaia's deadliness, but it was not as if Grilled were equipped to mark him conventionally anyway, and thus it was back to offence as defense.
Radovan Jaška had a nice open look in the 24th as
Gandhik Chitre spread it across to him from a corner, but he hesitated and was stripped of the ball. A prompt free-kick after Vittorio Cuccuru's booking for taking
Paulino Trindade down would see
Chan Ze Han finally round Knečūnas with some tricky footwork, only to slam it back off the post with Urbano Golán beaten.
Five minutes after that, it would be Iordăchioaia's second as Sorte thumped it upfield following
Chia Kwang Tse's half-hearted attempt from twenty-over yards, and neither of Grilled's defenders could get near the forward once he trapped the ball neatly on the bounce. Trindade's bad day then got worse as he got banged up by Bernardinas Knečūnas not having fully recovered from Cuccuru's challenge, but the São Tomé lad is nothing if not sturdy, and he would insist on continuing after some quick stretches.
Paulino Trindade definitely looked none the worse for wear after resting through half-time, and he would show great spirit in the Birds' first real push three minutes into the new half. Italian rightback Nino Luppi would look very vulnerable as he showed too much of the ball to Trindade then, which allowed the winger to sweep it suggestively into the box. Knečūnas would be alert as usual, sadly, as he dug deep into his box of dark art techniques, to keep
Chan Ze Han at bay.
A younger Chan would probably have managed to to shake free, but in his current diminished and injury-ridden form, there was just no coming up with that little extra against a fine defender on top of his game. It would then take some help from another direction for Grilled to finally get their breakthrough, and after nearly half an hour of thankless plodding, Chan would finally contribute with a nifty reverse pass to
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan, as the latter glided inside. Urbano Golán knew what was coming, but still couldn't get down fast enough to stop Ferzan's finish.
It didn't stay 1-2 for long, as Sorte took the initiative for once about the 82nd minute, and El Khateeb had to settle for a corner against Mínguez Ochoa's prolific dribbling. This turned out to be not the best idea, with
Cameron Law duly mishandling the catch, and Iordăchioaia would only have to reach out a boot, for his hat-trick. It wasn't even the last for him, and after a disheveled Grilled assault that saw Chan and then
Aw Keng Chuan test Golán, Iordăchioaia would grab another on the counter, with
Radovan Jaška simply unable to keep up.
The home support would be largely converted by Iordăchioaia's skill at this, although
Chad Thach would restore some pride as he polished off a cute free-kick combination next.
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan then fired straight into the goalie, which was a pity since it would have made the last few minutes very interesting indeed. As it was, the fans would have to settle for a 42 year-old
Moey Xin Seng making a cameo, in which he retrieved the armband from a totally-spent
Chan Ze Han.
