Matadores Gored
Zhao, Wong Won
The Birds got some hearts into mouths, but eventually scraped through to the semifinals of the El Balon del Mundo, after being taken into extra time by Matadores Al Urdun. The two-time national Challenger Cup winners, affiliated to Argentina's Matadores de Liverpool, nearly pulled off the ultimate demonstration of hanging tough, and it took some inspired substitutions for Grilled to wriggle through their travails.
Untested in the group stages, Matadores' French head coach Étienne Dupré kept faith with his favoured 3-5-2, although former Uruguay national defender Caín Epelbaum being ruled out through injury deprived him of his strongest side. Jordanian custodian Zein El-Omary, capped 38 times at U-20, would still feature, as would Lebanese striking legend Akram Naamani, once a draw at Spanish national champions Delirios de Grandeza.
Clément Meyer would retain his starting spot despite losing control on Sunday against saiNts, as
Djan Bacelar saw no reason to alter the wildly-successful chemistry from that day. And just as well, with Matadores kicking into gear almost immediately. Quentin Rozier came off the shoulder of
Yuki Irie to stab Zdzisław Frysztacki's presumptive cross towards goal in the tenth minute, and it would well have gone in, had it not been for a random bounce.
Then, a quickfire exchange.
Zhao Jing Wei carried on his hot form from the weekend, picking up on
Low Aik Jia's intentions a couple of seconds before anyone else, to nick it past El-Omary. Matadores would waste no time in replying on their very next assault, with Cypriot Achilleas Fiakas scoring from inside a chaotic six-yard box, after they had packed it for an indirect free-kick.
The contest was definitely up in the air, with either team totally capable of snatching it, and Naamani gave
Gene Filippone fits with his astonishingly sharp runs. Back-up help just about took care of that, though, and it would be Zhao who would put Grilled ahead yet again, sweeping home after an expansive move that extended the full width of the pitch.
It was definitely not over, and Matadores pulled level soon after half-time. It seemed unlikely that Naamani would get through this without a goal, so incisive had been his movements, and
Wong Tian Han had no chance once
Lee Lee Hao's misstep in midfield led to a breakaway. Matadores would slip up too, ironically, as Hauke Gnesen left Low to slip inside and supply
Wong Ping Shun from the restart, for 3-2.
Zdzisław Frysztacki would humble Low for speed in their next clash, however, and Rozier would make it all square for the third time. If the spectators were entertained, the tacticians certainly weren't, and Dupré made his first adjustment as Bacelar gestured furiously at his defence. Étienne Chevalier would come off, and Sébastien Carlier on to stick to the left touchline, as he sought to take Grilled on pace.
El-Omary would shortly after deflect
Wong Ping Shun's treacherously-skipping effort over for a corner, that was duly wasted. Bacelar, sensing that
Zhao Jing Wei was tiring, ended his bid for a hat-trick by taking him off for
Ang Leong Kum. The response from Matadores was to transition into a 2-5-3 in search of a knockout blow, as Matthieu Esnault came on in attack, for sweeper Haddad Abdel Ajlouni.
The bold move appeared to be just the thing, as Matadores promptly went ahead for the first time. It might or might not have been the direct cause, but the extra man probably came in handy when Rozier went looking, and Fiakas finished it after
Gene Filippone had bundled Adrian Wendt over. The referee let the goal stand, which was just as well for Grilled, given that the alternative would likely have been a penalty and sending-off.
This brought a glum silence from the Grilled fans, who understandably were not confident that their team could rally from this setback. They wouldn't have long to wait, as Naamani bore down for the kill after another burst down the right by Frysztacki... only for him to set it wide. At the other end,
Tian Yonghang managed a superb arcing strike on the turn, but El-Omary somehow saw to that.
Bacelar could wait no longer, and went all-in with his remaining subs -
Hariharan Prabhu and
Ling Fuquan, just recovered from a long layoff, would replace Meyer and Filippone. The local gambit appeared to have failed, however, as Matadores held onto possession with increasing confidence, and
Wong Tian Han had to scramble to keep Matthieu Esnault from ending it with a real rocket.
Clark Won was then forced to hold Naamani back in the 85th minute, and take a booking for the team.
It would suddenly get better out of nowhere; Ling would risk a dribble down the right side despite this not exactly being his forte, and his fresh legs probably helped in making it as far down as he did. There was still a lot to be done, though - and Ling delivered with a pinpoint pass to
Wong Ping Shun, ranging along the edge of the area. Wong didn't hesitate, and crashed an equaliser past El-Omary that had the stadium on its feet.
Perhaps it was just an unofficial tournament, but it was clear that nobody was up to letting this one through their hands now.
Clark Won would make it all academic, though, when he slashed through barely five minutes into extra time, and Matadores never quite recovered from that.
