Bulldog Tenacity
A Bow To Wziątek
Grilled Birds might have overcome Japanese III.6 leaders Broly the English Bulldog Football Club at their Konohagakure no Sato in this morning's friendly game, but the star of the show was undoubtedly Broly's 34 year-old Polish striker Pękosław Wziątek, who scored four of their five goals as a one-man army. That won him an ovation from the Birds players at the final whistle, and it will never be known if the hosts could have done better, had they not had to cope with being a man down for most of the match.
Over 4800 locals turned up to witness German head coach Franco De Simone's 2-5-3 against the Singaporean visitors, with Madagascar veteran forward Christian Ramanjary - a two-time Thai Challenger Cup winner with Bangkok's SKAVENGERS - probably their biggest draw after Wziątek. Then there was midfield regular Yusuke Yamamoto, who would however play only a very brief role, and Swiss defender Mirco Kreimer ahead of forty year-old veteran Silvano Chamorro.
The Birds led with their young forward pair as has become their custom for friendlies, and it would be Wziątek to start things going in the ninth minute, after 19 year-old Japanese U-20 prospect Ryoichi Shiraishi drifted over to the right flank for an overlapping run. Yusuke Yamamoto would be off just two minutes after that, however, after he ruthlessly shoved
Mason Glendinning over from behind. Chilean referee Carlos Thayer was unforgiving, and Yusuke appeared genuinely distraught at the straight red card.
This had Broly vice-captain Ramanjary volunteering himself for double duty in falling further back than the usual, but it would not slow his team just yet, as they found their fair share of chances against Grilled's ragtag back three. Wziątek's quality was just too much for
Fu Wenlong, who simply could not keep up with the Polish star's raw pace in the 27th minute, despite his superior position.
Dahan Bok was in two minds as to whether to come out to challenge, and was punished for staying on his line.
Grilled's numerical advantage had to tell eventually, for all of Wziątek's efforts, and they would tie it up just before half-time. Glendinning recovered from his earlier tumble to force Chamorro into a save with his leg, after which the goalkeeper had to stretch it. Broly appeared to have made it to the break when
Lim An Keng knocked a scrappy reducer home three minutes to it, and
Chia Kwang Tse wouldn't let up with his mazy dribble straight into the box right after.
The home fans remained entertained enough despite losing their lead, from how they cheered the players back into the tunnel, and the second half began with
Damian Hutter on for
Mohsen El Khateeb, who had been unconvincing even as part of a double-team against Wziątek. This did not bring about an immediate improvement, as Ryoichi Shiraishi racked up another assist a couple of minutes in, off a pinpoint cross to the oncoming Kreimer - who hit it on the volley.
The Birds picked themselves back up, and equalized for a second time on their next possession, which had them circulate the ball to
Chad Thach on the left wing. The Number Ten is enjoying his football quite a lot more, from how he teased Bulgarian defender Yordan Chanachev with his approaches, which left Chia with a tap-in after a cheeky series of turns. Seven minutes on, Grilled were ahead for the first time, with
Fu Wenlong finding far more joy rampaging upfield than he had sitting back.
It was then four-all in the 59th minute, however, as Broly summoned up the will to mount a concerted attack from all directions. Yasuaki Sakamaki would be the most involved as he picked the ball up on the left touchline, before eventually losing
Hwang Teck Fu after several passes. There was no looking past Wziątek for the finish, though, as he overran a flustered Hutter for his hat-trick goal.
Grilled's personnel advantage gradually wore the hosts down for that, and
Hwang Teck Fu got in on the scoreboard in the 68th minute, after several
Mohd Marzuki Khairul pushes through the middle finally found its reward. This was De Simone's cue to bring on some fresh legs with a triple substitution, that had Yordan Chanachev, Shinya Shioya and Mich Leduc enter. Silvano Chamorro would have some words for Leduc as the goalkeepers swapped places, with Leduc nodding in acknowledgement.
Chad Thach wasted no time in impressing himself on Shinya Shioya, and would be booked for contesting the referee's decision. That said, the Birds would not have much to deal with, and appeared set to run out the clock, with
Dan Alstani making two late changes -
Toma Tamiya on for Thach, and
Markus Pallas for
Fu Wenlong. The four minutes of added time looked to be a formality... until Pękosław Wziątek found himself free at the top of the six-yard box after a particularly direct Broly advance, and had the crowd on its feet with his fourth goal!
The Broly supporters were not just singing for extra time, but for the winner, and Yasuaki Sakamaki got into the spirit with his tussle against
Hwang Teck Fu that followed, with Hwang perhaps lucky that Thayer saw things his way, even carding Yasuaki to the spectators' disagreement. It wound up being
Paulino Trindade having the final word, unexpectedly, with the São Tomé e Príncipe winger having been pedestrian in defence the whole game. He was a different player in chasing
Kendell El Khateeb's extended dribble upfield, and Leduc got wrongfooted by an attempted block.
