Season 65

[Krishna Sadhana]

Bali United ZAFT Welcomes New Season

Bali United ZAFT, last season's Champions in League Level 4, began their adventure in Level 5 with a home match against Turkey's Mustafa FC in Bali. The Indonesian outfit looked the favorites to progress, with the additions of Sumeragi Lee Noriega, Lennon Takeo, Yuna Oshiro, as well as the ever dangerous Aila Jyrkiäinen, Nicklas Bendtner and Karin Kikuhara, not to mention club legend Onja Batsukh. Le Minh Thao, Le Huu Hoang Anh, Minyu Wu, and Harry Kane are retained from last season, whilst youngsters Namfah Yui-lue and Shizuha Doi commandeers the defense with Ali al-Saachez, Zechs Merquise, and experienced defender Handoyo Hendrawidjaja. Kira Yamato and Tran Ngo Thuy Trang are the attacking players of the team from the flanks, whilst Nguyen Phuc Khanh Linh guards the right flank. GK alternates between Aishwarya Kansakar and Fabian Delano Kurnia, as usual.



Before our cup match, we had one friendly against last season's league opponents, Zerjon United. We ran out comfortable 11-0 winners with new signing Takeo scoring a whopping 6.



The Tridatu Soldiers played their first match of the season against Mustafa FC at home, and barely 10 minutes into the game Jyrkiäinen scored to make it 1-0 that lasted until HT. In the 2nd half we were once more on the offensive, and Yuna scores to increase the lead by two. Bali United's new captain Sumeragi Lee Noriega makes it 3-0, before Mustafa pulls one back thanks to a header from defender Gomes. Kira "Jesus" Yamato, however, had other ideas. His header late in the game made it 4-1, thus allowing Bali United to hold a reasonable advantage going into the 2nd leg.



The return leg however, was much more tougher. Realizing that they must climb a huge mountain in order to progress, Mustafa purchased several new players, increasing their quality from 34 to 36. We, however, are undeterred. The 2nd leg in Antalya was an exciting affair - Nguyen "Two" Phuc Khanh Linh makes it 1-0 and 5-1 on aggregate, before the hosts fired two quick goals from Christoph and Pourjaneki. With the scoreline 2-1 and 3-6 on aggregate, it looks like Bali United are going through but they're also going to lose at the same time. Enter Captain Lee Noriega. His late strike brought the game level to 2-2, and sealed our ticket into the qualifying rounds with a 4-6 aggregate!



The next day, Bali United ZAFT made their 2nd appearance in the Kickoff Champions League as they took on Uten FC of Italy. The Tridatu Soldiers won comfortably by six goals to nil, thanks to a brace from Jesus Yamato and Lord Bendtner, with Captain Lee Noriega and Tran Ngo "Chan" Thuy Trang scoring as well. Sadly GK Aishwarya Kansakar got injured in the opening minutes of the match - thankfully Fabian Delano Kurnia managed to keep a clean sheet. After the match, Bali United announced their final signing of the first half of the season, with defender Shinn Asuka joining the team to cover for Two in the DR position.



Our opening day in the league saw Bali United travel to Germany to take on Dortmund. As expected the favorites Bali United ZAFT steamrollered their opponents 4-0, in a match packed with drama. Captain Lee Noriega makes it 1-0 after 4 minutes, before Lennon got booked in the 25th minute for a foul that caused the injury of Dortmund's Adur. Later on the 33rd minute Tagliani fouled Jyrkiäinen in the box, earning Bali United a penalty, which Captain Lee Noriega coldly executes to make it 2-0. The 2nd half opened with drama as Dortmund's Barbosa injured Chan, and got sent off for his foul and his "racist" remarks on the assistant referee. Jesus Yamato made no mistakes from the ensuing FK to make it 3-0. New signing Shinn Asuka capped off the victory by volleying in an assist from al-Saachez.



Day 2 of the league saw Bali United ZAFT play in front of their faithful supporters in Denpasar as they took on M150 FC of Thailand. The two teams are joint top of the table, with the latter claiming first place due to goal difference. I played a rather weakened side since we have an important cup match coming right up, with Jyrkiäinen, Captain Lee Noriega, Asuka, and al-Saachez benched, and Handoyo, Lord Bendtner, Minyu "Sakina" Wu, and Le Huu "Largo" Hoang Anh playing. The away team's solid defense was a trouble for Bali United, but Sakina broke the deadlock three minutes before HT, giving the home side the all important lead. On the 2nd half I decided to introduce Captain Lee Noriega, Jyrkiäinen, and al-Saachez, replacing Largo, Lord Bendtner, and Zechs Merquise. It was a substitution that paid off - Captain Lee Noriega scored on the 84th minute to make it 3-0, after Jesus Yamato executed another perfect FK to make it 2-0 on the 66th. Finally Jesus Yamato completed his brace three minutes from time - ending the match in a 4-0 victory, and ensuring the top is ours for the taking. Drama also erupted in this match as the referee sent off M150's Kasaeak and Hoult, and Lennon was injured after a foul from Munninopamas. The red packs had to come to the rescue, with an important cup match coming up and with Chan still out of comission.



The all important qualifying cup match came, and Bali United found themselves as severe underdogs as they took on Arezzo FC of Italy. Make no mistake - even though this is a 3rd level team, their quality exceeds Bali United's, with their 36 against the Tridatu Soldiers' 35. Before you know it, an exciting match ensues - a mistake from Namfah "Fahfee" Yui-lue enabled Amri to open the scoreline for the away team, forcing me to make some changes in the 2nd half. The defensive 4-1-3-2 was ditched for a more offensive 3-1-4-2, with Asuka covering Fahfee's position as DC as the latter's mistake proves too costly for him to be retained. Lennon and Jesus Yamato entered the fray on the wings. And on the 63rd minute, the breakthrough came. Jyrkiäinen with the assist and Captain Lee Noriega scored in 7 official games in a row to make it 1-1. But then drama broke out - Vivinci decided that Captain Lee Noriega is too dangerous to be retained and fouled him, causing the Captain to be stretchered off from the field - an injury that horrifies the Semeton Dewata faithful, and also forces me to put in former captain Le Minh Thao, who thankfully put up a decent performance compared to his woeful one against Uten FC. The worse thing is, Vivinci's not even booked for that offense! Jesus Yamato also floundered the ensuing FK. As the match draws to an end, even more drama broke out as Lord Bendtner fouled Arezzo's Sadiq, earning the away side an FK. Fabian Delano Kurnia saved the FK, but the ball went out for a corner. And then tragedy struck - Sakina got sent off for handling the ball with his hand in the penalty box! The ref gave Arezzo a penalty kick, which Park executes...but Delano Kurnia saves, much to the jubilation of the Semeton Dewata faithful! The match ended 1-1, and the red packs came to the rescue again for Lee Noriega - the loss of Sakina is too much for the midfield for the return match. A tough one indeed!



Think might going to let the Cup go after reaching the QF stage two seasons in a row