A World Of Hert
Ion Cannons
Grilled suffered their first knockout stage defeat in the Worldwide Allgäu-Guests III tournament following twelve wins and a draw over three editions, and Irish Premier side Hertha Froesche were good value for it too;
Tian Yonghang was the only Grilled man to show up, as Froesche won it fair and square with an intoxicating blend of obdurate defending and sharp pincer attacks.
Having dispensed with fc michi 72, FC Nairobi United and colonel united all too casually in Group C, before breezing by Sunny Kickers 4-0, Hertha Froesche exhibited only too few lapses, what with former Greek national playmaker Agis Mpousinakos in imperious form. As for Grilled,
Gennady Dvorak was rested after his blockbuster coming-out against the Earthquakes, and
Lee Lee Hao drafted into the third forward role.
This never got too convincing, though.
Yuki Irie was always a step behind Mpousinakos as they sought the initiative, and Chinese referee Ge Ming did the Birds no favours at all, when he judged Yuki to have prevented a goalscoring opportunity by bumping into the Greek after five minutes. Yuki protested mightily with Tian by his side, but ex-Cambodian national striker Sonith Him took the penalty nevertheless, and beat
Wong Tian Han with precise placement.
Grilled in general and Yuki in particular continued seething at the unfairness of it all for some time, but they were not given too much scope to dwell upon it, given how threatening Froesche were getting to be; Him's understanding with new partner Wojciech Płócienniczak was coming along fine, going by how the shots were flying in. Although Płócienniczak would be fed it high, to make full use of his stature, he was hardly one-dimensional, as his unsaveable 39th minute power shot would prove.
Tian Yonghang was one of the few Birds players who kept their bearing, and the calculative skipper would pick his moment to strike, two minutes after Płócienniczak's goal. With open looks exceedingly hard to come by against the all-rounded Marnix Landtsheere, Tian had to make the most of the momentary crack that
Clément Meyer forced his headed pass into, and did just the trick with whipped volley dipping low past Ueli Engert.
Yuki made straight for the match officials once the half-time whistle was blown, and they duly engaged in a heated debate, which continued even after Ge tried to extricate himself from it. A bizarre yellow card was looking very possible, when the experienced
Zhao Jing Wei sensed the danger and headed Yuki off, allowing Ge to scuttle into the safety of his own dressing room.
There would be far less dispute about midfielder Ion Stan's powerful bullet header as he followed up Płócienniczak's nod-on in the 51st, and Grilled were once again two goals down.
Low Aik Jia admirably kept his head up, but he seldom managed to get past facing winger Paul Jarkes, much less Fred Christiansson behind him. In a fit of frustration, he would lash out at the latter, and Ge was pretty justified in dishing out a caution.
With only twenty minutes left and Froesche still the more likely to score,
Djan Bacelar made a tactical switch, replacing Meyer with the fresh legs of
Clark Won. Sadly, there would be minimal effect, but
Rinor Isufi would make one more or less on his own, blazing past Bruno Randahl before slamming a shot against the crossbar.
There then followed an ugly no-holds-barred slide by Low without regard for Engert, who was always getting to the rebound first, and Ge Ming went right for his pocket again, sending Low off. Despite this booking again being fully deserved,
Yuki Irie appeared to take it very personally, and had to be kept from the referee by several of his wiser comrades.
It probably wouldn't have made much of a difference in any case, although Froesche would immediately savage Grilled's now-empty left flank. Faced with foes on all sides,
Gene Filippone understandably opted to bring Sonith Him down right on the touchline, in an effort to allow the Birds to regroup. Him however had the last laugh, as he unexpectedly raked it low and hard across the area, which saw Bruno Randahl barge
Ang Leong Kum over to convert.
Ang joined the ranks of the disaffected at that, but the referee was unmoved, and gameplay restarted with Grilled hardly in the right frame of mind to compete. They came up via Nigel Canavan wide left with Grilled now overcompensating on shape, and Ion Stan managed another huge hit on the pullback, pegging it from all of thirty yards.
Gennady Dvorak, who had been waiting to come on, would again leave an instant impression - he threw Landtsheere off with the sheer aggressiveness of his approach to
Wong Ping Shun's premature cross, and this turned what should have been a routine clearance, into a free pot for
Tian Yonghang. Tian was never going to miss that, and made it 5-2.
Definitely, it was hardly more than a symbolic gesture at the end of it, and
Wong Tian Han had to be on his toes to keep Him from replying with a magnificent free-kick.
