Pharaohs Authority
Shehab's Curse
Grilled Birds' trip to Alexandria, Egypt ended in a 2-7 scourging by Dawry El Momtaz club Pharaohs of the Future, with the three-time Challenger Cup winners running the Birds over on the counter in the first half. 23 year-old local star Shehab El Merghany even completed his hat-trick by the 28th minute, if against a decidedly second-tier Grilled defence.
Slovenian head coach Darko Korenc had come under heavy pressure after the club had lost four out of their latest five league matches, after a third-placed finish last season had possibly raised their supporters' hopes unrealistically. The Pharaohs did retain a strong squad headlined by Romanian national winger Gergely Fehér, who would however not make an appearance today. In his absence, American centre forward Mitchell Adams was the biggest draw alongside Bulgarian midfielder Mihail Markov, with veteran Karim Habib their rock in defence.
For Grilled,
Hwang Teck Fu again played creator with
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko joining the usual suspects of Thach, Lim and Chia in midfield. The back three were a mishmash with winger
Paulino Trindade thrown in together with
Mohsen El Khateeb and
Fu Wenlong, but the latter swiftly made his mark with a hanging third-minute corner kick.
Lim An Keng was always a threat in such situations, and he outjumped Polish centreback Zenon Stawczyk to nod the opener past Samir Fakiri.
That didn't get the home fans down for long, as they kept faith in their coach's 5-3-2. This soon found great effectiveness with Grilled's callow front two looking entirely lost against their back five, and the Pharaohs quickly discovered that long passes bypassing the midfield were the key to exploiting the Birds' weak points. It took only ten minutes for Brazilian captain Kaio Tsukumo to find himself clear and free up the left, and the former youth international slid it cleanly across to Shehab El Merghany for 1-1.
This Grilled side had no answer to their hosts' adaptations, and
Mohsen El Khateeb would be a step slow in cutting out Kamuran Ziver's square ball in the 22nd minute, which Shehab tapped home at the far post. It then got nearly comical as a shaken
Mason Glendinning lost the ball after spacing out just inside his own half some six minutes later, which had Sjeng Temmink spearheading a rapid three-on-three. Shehab El Merghany could hardly believe his luck as no-one tracked him despite his proven scoring record, and
Dahan Bok could only throw his hands up in resignation as he came through unhindered.
Temmink would polish off a fourth by himself scarce two minutes on, as
Fu Wenlong tried to keep his defence together, if not very successfully. This had
Hwang Teck Fu attempt a little soul-searching before kick-off, though
Dan Alstani appeared unconcerned as he chatted with Korenc on the touchline - if nothing else, Alstani had definitely had it better, on the official results front.
Grilled's substitutions at half-time didn't portent much intent, with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul a like-for-like exchange with Hein, and the 46 year-old
Atang Mangoye arguably a downgrade from the already-unimpressive Mohsen. This was made evident in the 68th, as Mangoye proved entirely unequipped to contend with Ziver's drive down the right side of the box. Fu and Thach tried to help out, but Peter Messner was then left free to convert the outlet pass for 5-1.
Marzuki's day ended prematurely about four minutes after that, with a vicious sliding challenge from Mihail Markov causing a bad fall and painful impact to his ribs.
Damian Hutter came on by necessity, and got Grilled's reducer five minutes later - and through some individual wizardry. His turning of two defenders before wrongfooting Fakiri was so stylish, in fact, that it had some of the home fans applauding it!
The Pharaohs support could well afford to be magnanimous, still being three goals up, and the margin would soon be re-widened. Fu had never been a convincing man-marker, and Mitchell Adams would ease past him for a sixth goal in the 79th minute, before heading Ziver's crisp cross beyond Bok on their very next attack. The match would conclude with a yellow card for Kaio Tsukumo's timewasting in stoppage time, which had to be unnecessary in the circumstances.
