Swiss Cubans Aground
Leisurely Training
Some eight seasons after Grilled last took on a Swiss side, they finally made the trip down to Switzerland itself and outplayed Division Nine FC C.U.B.A, 6-0.
Tim Hobson and
Lan Tuan-Mu are the only two players who have graced both Swiss challenges, the first one lost 1-4 to Seefeld Harriers United on home ground.
Grilled were finally free to name a full second team complement, with longtime coach
Luis Alcántara returning to active play. Some regulars had opted to fly over just for a pre-Masters holiday, among them Martinsson and van Liere who were hiking near St. Moritz when the match begun.
FC C.U.B.A's Arena de Orishas attracted a decent thousand and a half locals for the event, who gave countryman
Dani Spirig a rousing welcome home. Spirig would not score, but shone throughout and more or less made Grilled's first and third goals in a game which saw many blunt thrusts down the middle.
Spirig danced circles around FC C.U.B.A's 58 year-old Dutch coach Yiri Witschge on the right flank, as Witschge gamely tried to keep up with the far fitter youngster. As expected, he made absolutely no impression as a defender, and Spirig was free in the 13th minute to skim a low cross across the goalmouth for
Terkel Borup to force in.
With the formality of the first goal done with, Grilled added another three in the opening half. Assistant coach
Marcus Liehner got a lucky shot off nine minutes after Borup's tap-in, with his sliced strike weaseling under FC C.U.B.A's goalkeeper Maximillian Spiel. Olaru then benefitted from more good work by Spirig to add a third.
Borup threatened a fourth when he bravely attacked a waist-high scuffed kick with his head, but Spiel strained himself into flicking it out with his fingertips. Hjortlind would claim Number Four in the 36th minute instead, a straightforward finish after Bukhari crafted a sweet volley over a jumping Hansruedi Meienberger's head.
More excitement in the second half, as Jie Siong made his way past Daniel Epstein after a shoulder-to-shoulder barrage, and followed up by fooling Spiel with a drop of his hips. Hjortlind then made his mark on the match, copping a yellow card for petulantly kicking the ball after a minor foul, testing Spiel with an audacious 20 metre lob and finally getting his second goal on a rebound after Spiel fumbled Olaru's 83rd minute stinger.
The loudest cheers were reserved for homecoming lad
Dani Spirig though, and one sensed that most in the crowd would not have been unhappy had Spiel had let Spirig's stiff header go past him with five minutes to go. Spiel wanted his compatriot to earn it, though, but Spirig wouldn't have another chance as FC C.U.B.A launched a late, futile rally.
