ChiliVili Burnt
Aw In Flow
Three-time Myanmar Consolation Cup winners ChiliVili drew a fair crowd of nearly six thousand at The Cooking Pot for today's friendly, but the II.3 side reserved most of their biggest stars, such as Matías Gastón Pinino and Ali İsmail Altın. Grilled Birds did not reciprocate, and the outcome was as could be predicted.
Midfielders Mauricio Bonano, Gallus Hoffstetter and Marcel Miez were hardly to be disregarded, definitely, but they would be kept busy from the word go by the Birds' overall superiority. 22 year-old Senegalese referee Amidou Koïta was notably younger than most of the players, but he was hardly shy in imposing his authority on the match, with frequent calls for contact. The home fans were not complaining when he penalized Chan Thet Paing for what looked like a marginal foul on
Mohd Marzuki Khairul in the 29th minute, and
Aw Keng Chuan slammed it home from the spot.
That first goal took a bit out of the sails of the visitors, and when
Gandhik Chitre walked it in after a splendid sequence of passes two minutes later, the Myanmar contingent might have feared the worst. Grilled were fast and loose in defence too, though, and a remarkable exchange in the next nine minutes would see four more goals, shared equally by the teams - Gabriele Sparacino and Victor Mostert scoring against
Louis Vara for the visitors, and
Ha Qicai and
Gandhik Chitre responding in kind.
Clyde Bayne came on for Bonano for the second half, as homegrown legend turned head coach Saw Moe Naing experimented with his squad. This wasn't enough for them to compete on level terms, however, as the Birds gradually monopolized possession partly due to their increased familiarity with ChiliVili's attacking patterns. Aw ranged far from his usual post to come in and slide a second past Romanian veteran goalie Cristian Chiujdea in the 59th minute, after which Mircea Toşa finally collected the first - and only - yellow of the game, for a high tackle on the shielding Ha.
An eager
Mohsen El Khateeb's entry for
Paulino Trindade - who barely ever stopped moving - only upped Grilled's aggressiveness further, and an uncompromising dribble against Tanvir Das six minutes after coming on would see El Khateeb sweep it across the box to
Mohd Marzuki Khairul after navigating its breadth, with Marzuki finishing smartly.
Aw Keng Chuan's hat-trick would be complete in the 83rd minute, as he cannoned it from fifteen yards, and leapt in jubilation after.
The visitors did have opportunities to reap a couple more consolation goals actually, with Dutch winger Victor Mostert going on some very successful meandering runs, and slightly overhitting his low cross to Marcel Miez after 84 minutes.
Mohsen El Khateeb's goal from Vara's high-bouncing goal kick would see Mostert beat an uninterested
Brian Reddy again from kick-off, but his attempt from some twenty-five metres was destined to go wide.