Wesnoth Face Evandro
Mučič Retrieval
Mexican V.1 hosts Wesnoth FC would try to engage Grilled Birds in an all-out press, but only to limited effectiveness as the visitors put six past young Portuguese goalie Amável Abreu anyway. It was hardly even Abreu's fault, really, and had it not been some quick hands by the fast-improving youngster especially in the second half, it would have been much more.
Wesnoth boss Miguel Latorre would match Grilled's 2-5-3 with a brief towards man-marking, which his men gamely attempted. This would however force what was supposed to be their midfield to sit within their own penalty area for most of the match, with captain Alberto Ruiz Moreno doing all he could to limit
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan's depredations on the left. This state of affairs lasted all of ten minutes, before referee Heiko Sachsen-Paule awarded the Birds a free-kick on the left corner of the box, that
Radovan Jaška struck low and true.
The lead taken, Grilled continued pushing hard, only to be undone by Wesnoth's sheer stubbornness. The Birds were not afraid to take risks, given that this was but a friendly exhibition, but
Mohd Marzuki Khairul probably took it too far with a random rabona when confronted with
Paulino Trindade's touch-on from a corner. Wesnoth's first sniff then came when
Mohsen El Khateeb got careless and tripped the teenaged José Miguel Cedrón in the 23rd minute; Cedrón gleefully claimed the free-kick for himself, but fired it right into Grilled's defensive wall.
El Khateeb wasn't the only one to be taken unawares by the speed of Wesnoth's attacks once they were unleashed, and
Radovan Jaška would be given what would be the only card of the day, for toppling Belgian striker William Stroeckx in the 26th minute. The free-kick would be delayed this time as Cedrón negotiated it with two of this teammates, and while the initial attempt by Cedrón was cleared, a scything return down the right opened up that side of Grilled's defence, and Daniel Mučič came in to equalize from three yards.
That was as far as Wesnoth got, as Grilled Birds recovered to put three more past Abreu before half-time, not that he could have done much about any of those. Spanish star
Evandro La Face led the renaissance as he outmatched Martial Couvrat twice in as many minutes to set up similar shots from the right side of the box, and it would be
Mohsen El Khateeb to round up the scoring for the half in the 38th minute, as Wesnoth's confidence waned.
Latorre would have his team back in fighting fit mode as he pumped them back up during the fifteen minute interval, which had Moreno lead the players back onto the pitch at a half-sprint. While it remained a bad matchup against Grilled's inventive play, Abreu would at least leave his mark on the match with a memorable save in the 50th minute, after
Radovan Jaška had managed a looping header that was headed right for the far post. Many keepers would have committed too early, but Abreu had stayed on his feet, and was fast enough to make it across to claw it aside with his left glove.
Joe Reece's dip in form would continue as he could not find the target after being given a free look from just inside the penalty area 54 minutes in, and it would take a dead ball situation, for Grilled to increase their lead. That was down to La Face too, as the wily veteran invited the tackle - and
Radovan Jaška disguised his run-up well, before sweeping the ball onwards for Ferzan to run onto. There would be plenty of space behind Wesnoth's backline to exploit, and
Aw Keng Chuan did just that for 5-1.
The Birds would be slightly less interested in pressing their case after that, even as Wesnoth's coverage faltered, leaving
Gandhik Chitre a free header from about six yards in the 72nd minute - one that he failed to even connect with. No worries, as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul made up for that three minutes later, and the scoreline would stay the same when
Teo Chuan Yong entered for
Mohsen El Khateeb in the 80th minute.
Bilal Mohammad Harun and
Gilbert Webb would also show their faces before it ended, in a nostalgic throwback.
