Revenge, a dish best served cold, was the order of the day as the Projects Abroad World XI cruised to a 3-1 victory over Father Renatus' Engikaret Select at the Arusha Stadium.
The flat pitch and cooler conditions worked in the World XI's favour as Remzi Sipahi put them in front in the first half with a spectacular drive from the edge of the box. After the break Kevin Wong doubled the advantage with a neatly placed shot and added a third later in the game. The Engikaret Select team were able to grab a consolation goal late in the second half but it was not enough to begin a heroic comeback.
The Projects Abroad World XI made a few changes to their team with the additions of three new players. Moses Phineas replaced Kevin Wong in goal while, Wong moved up front alongside another new face in the form of Bert Hoeksema. A third debutant began the game with Marcus Jansson taking the place of the departed Erik-Jan Meulenbrugge.
The Projects team lined up: Moses Phineas (GK), Chris Kammerer (SW), Marcos Rodriguez (RB), Baraka Mbise (CB), Marcus Jansson (LB), Jon Lambrecht (CM), Remzi Sipahi (CM), Regan Sirali (CM), Bert Hoeksema (RF), Kevin Wong (CF), Ian Baxter (LF)
Substitutes: Tim Leenstra
The Projects team decided to stick with their 1-3-3-3 formation that had conceded five goals in one half in their previous game, the side obviously putting faith in their pre-match preparations. Playing a sweeper in the form of Kammerer complemented their very narrow defensive shape and the improved positional and tactical understanding appeared to sure up their previous frailties.
The game began in the Engikaret Select's favour, though, and they dominated the early possession, as well as the majority of the referee's decisions. The first incident of note was an unpleasant one as Baxter and Lambrecht were involved in a sickening collision after a breakdown in communication when going for a high ball, the former coming off worse, clutching his ribs. Baxter soldiered on, hwoever, and was on the receiving end of another heavy challenge that left him prone on the ground clutching his side. Leading by example, he gritted his teeth and got straight back into the game.
After 15 minutes the tide seemed to turn in the World XI's favour as they began to find their passing game. Phineas was proving to be an astute signing as he dealt capably with any balls that came in his direction. Pressing forward, trying to take advantage of the Engikaret Select's high defensive line, the World XI began to carve out a few chances with Wong, Sirali and Sipahi failing to significantly trouble the goalkeeper. Hoeksema, however, was beginning to find joy down the right hand side and was starting to find his range with a couple of dangerous low balls into the box, forcing the Engikaret Select's goalkeeper into action. It was from one of these crosses, that the Engikaret defender could only direct into Sipahi's path, that the breakthrough came. Sipahi managed to crash a first time driven shot high into the roof of the net, leaving the goalkeeper flapping at thin air long after the ball had passed him.
The World XI began to march on from there, the flat pitch favouring their midfield as they were able to twist and turn past their opponents before finding teammates in space. Two further chances fell to Wong in the first half, a golden chance appearing after a cute through ball from Sipahi was met by Wong's left foot only for him to skewer his shot from an acute angle across the goal towards the corner flag. A second chance fell to the same player as a high ball into the box was allowed to drop but the new striker rushed his volley and could only send the ball back into the air as the Engikaret defender headed it away.
The second half continued as the first half had finished with Leenstra, on for Sirali, Lambrecht and Sipahi controlling the midfield while Baxter and Hoeksema switched flanks as Wong ran the channels. The warning signs were there as Sipahi found Wong, almost immediately from the restart as he broke through the offside trap but disaster was averted by a fine tackle from the Engikaret Select defender. However, moments later Sipahi found Wong in acres of space, with a great ball over the top, as the Engikaret offside trap began to crumble. Wong closed in on the goal and placed his shot from the right hand side of the area beyond the keeper's reach hitting the back of the net in off the far post.
Fortunately for the World XI, and for Wong, the Engikaret Select defenders failed to learn from that goal and moments later, in a carbon copy of the first pass, man-of-the-match Sipahi, once again, found Wong beyong the last defender and, racing clear, Wong was able to side foot his shot high towards the near post, although he was lucky as the keeper should have done better to stop the shot going though his hands for Wong's second and the World XI's third.
The rest of the game passed in much the same fashion although fatigue set in and Wong was unable to convert his chances into a third goal and the hat-trick remained out of reach, his left footed miss in the first half coming back to haunt him. Leenstra and Sipahi continued to boss the midfield and the back four remained most solid after an assured performance from Kammerer, Mbise and Rodriguez. The star of the defensive performance was the debutant Jansson as he showed excellent positioning and a calm head when bringing the ball out of defense, after a shaky start. The only blip on the performance being Engikaret Select's consolation goal as the usually magnificent Phineas spilled a shot into the path of the onrushing Engikaret striker who slammed the ball home.
The Projects Abroad team should be deservedly proud of their performance in front of an excellent home crowd and will look to march on from this victory as rumours of an invitational tournament in May surfaced after the match. The new formation and fitness regime seemed to gel well with the home turf. One key issue for the Projects team, however, will be how they are going to prevent two time man-of-the-match Sipahi, who finished today with a goal and two assists, from being tempted by a big money move. Immediately after the game, rumours of interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid were rampant on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Sipahi quickly moved to distance himself from the rumours, while not totally ruling out a move, stating "playing with Barcelona would be a dream job but for now my heart's with Projects Abroad and I can't picture myself in any other jersey."
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