Termitated
Yonghang Revving Up
Grilled refused to mope after getting knocked out of Worldwide Allgäu-Guests III, as they promptly accepted an invitation to the second edition of The Global Trophy, where they were placed in Group E. Their first opponents were Armenian Third Division leaders Los termitas7131, whom
Tian Yonghang gave a rude introduction to, with a ruthless hat-trick.
Known for having an inordinate number of members with nicknames beginning with the letter "C", termitas7131 were still rather more than a quaint curiosity, as their fine competitive record indicated; a perfect nine for nine in their league, their strike pairing of Renato Azexas and Mateusz Waśko had plundered twenty-nine goals between them in the wholesale slaughter.
They would be joined by Dutchman Fedor Verschuren in an optimistic three-pronged attack, with skipper Călin Balahur backing them up. As for Grilled,
Zhao Jing Wei started in his preferred central midfield position, while
Gennady Dvorak again led the line.
The initial going favoured termitas7131's quick-starting habits, and Turkish converted right winger Rasim Ortaylı got
Low Aik Jia's goat with his unorthodox movement patterns. He delivered a fine flat cross in the eighth minute that Azexas got on the end of, but
Rashid bin Ahmad's sneaky nudge put the shot marginally off.
Low eventually got the hang of it, and he would grab the breakthrough in the 27th minute, after rotating into the middle as Dvorak pulled the defence out wide. Upon the restart, Low got in the thick of it again, and wound up unwittingly providing a distraction as
Tian Yonghang picked up the scraps for 2-0.
It was then
Gennady Dvorak's turn to put a low drive past the increasingly-demoralised young Brazilian keeper Josias Pesarotto, who literally threw his towel to the ground at that. Then again, with head coach Karl Chivin publicly hinting at wholesale squad changes, it was at least understandable if morale was not exactly at its highest.
The second half did at least start out fairly brightly for the Armenians, and Balahur would get one back, after Vasag Khachatouryan had opened a hole up on the left side with a steadfast run. Soon after that, Low appeared to signal for a switch with him hobbling noticeably after pulling up hard, and
Clark Won took over from the 70th minute.
This change of style made all the difference as Grilled began hitting termitas7131 from wholly new angles, and Tian would complete his treble in a jiffy. A slightly-farcical poach was followed by a precise finish courtesy of Hernán Salazar missing an admittedly poorly-judged backwards header, which had Pesarotto up in arms again.
Renato Azexas did nearly get another consolation with a dazzling dribble past the entire Grilled backline, but it was
Clément Meyer who would close out the night with a placed header.
