Mickels miss a turning point as latest stop in Sabah’s odyssey ends with regret

Football – like much of life – can be a story of what might have been, and on 39 minutes Joy-Lance Mickels had an experience that was a sliding doors moment for the centre-forward and Sabah that may haunt a long time.

Azerbaijan’s champions were trailing to Matheus Cunha’s opener when Kaheem Parris spiralled the ball up to the far post of Manchester United’s goal. The lurking Mickels had a gilded chance, unmarked and close-in, yet when the delivery dropped, the 32-year-old snatched at his header and the ball fell wide.

Cue blanket ruefulness from the visitors and a sense Mickels/Sabah had spurned their solitary chance to get back into the contest and possibly record a memorable result. Sadly for Valdas Dambrauskas’s technical, athletic side, it proved so as United would pull away and close with a comfortable 4-0 victory.

If this was the expected result, Sabah and their 500-strong contingent of fans could be proud of making it as far as this storied stadium, and the continent’s blue riband club competition group stage. A Champions League odyssey that began on 7 July (when Argentina were dispatching Egypt from the World Cup quarter-finals)and featured four two-legged qualifying rounds and the scalps of The New Saints, Kuopio, Aarhus and Hapoel Be’er Sheva, arrived at Old Trafford for the biggest game of Sabah’s nine-year history.

The club founded in Masazir (population, 19,000), a town around 25 miles from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, in September 2017 by the real estate developer Yagub Huseynov, became champions for the first time last season, as Dambrauskas guided the Owls to a league and cup double in the Lithuanian’s opening term.

Dambrauskas’ inspirational tale of investing the £725 won from Six Zeros – A Million, his country’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2002 as seed money for the coaching career he craved was documented in the buildup, so the fascination was how the 49-year-old’s side would fare against the might of United.

In a pre-game wander on the pitch a few players tried to take in the scale of the footballing cathedral they would soon perform in. An augury of the task was contained in the strong XI Michael Carrick sent out. Youri Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo, Cunha, Bruno Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo were five of the manager’s first-choice front six, Marcus Rashford being stood down for Benjamin Sesko, the No 9 making a first start this season.

Sabah’s centre-forward was Mickels, who made his Rwanda debut earlier this year, and whose 19 goals propelled them to the inaugural Misli Premyer League. Before the self-confessed United fan’s nerve failed, Mickels and colleagues could be proud of a goalless opening 27 minutes in which they executed Dambrauskas’ aggressive pressing strategy and limited the host to the odd foray inside their area.

In Mickels, Ivan Lepinjica, a No 6 who glided about, and Parris, the wide right forward with a spurt of speed, Sabah carried a threat but lacked sharpness, as was evident in the Mickels’ miss and present in Cunha’s opener. Patrick Dorgu flipped over a cross from the left and the Brazilian, at near-range, was ruthless.

Now, Sabah’s assignment was not to fold and keep believing. Which they did, until the 42nd minute when the guile of Tielemans and Fernandes combined in a move that sliced through Sabah and showed up a callowness at elite level. The Portuguese received Tielemans pass, and beat Stas Pokatilov, Sabah’s Kazakhstani goalkeeper and captain. Moments later Sesko skipped slickly beyond Pokatilov and scored to make this opening Champions League group match 3-0 and, surely, over.

For Sesko, often cast as a supersub, his strike was a personal triumph in the fight for a regular starting berth. His goal followed the one in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Everton (as a 70th-minute replacement), so a case is made for the 23-year-old to retain his place for Sunday’s visit of Manchester City in the 199th derby.

Lisandro Martínez completed the scoring after the interval, following an embarrassing Sabah mix-up that featured Pokatilov, on his goalline, not seeming to know where the ball was. Disappointing for Dambrauskas and his men. But zoom out and more learning – and enriching – experience awaits. The rest of Sabah’s great continental adventure takes in Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund, Viking, Barcelona, Villarreal, Napoli and Arsenal.

As Dambrauskas said: “We all will all go home thinking that we could’ve done a little bit better – especially the result. We didn’t have enough courage maybe, especially from the backline to play out. We were not afraid but maybe were over-evaluated the opponent. Sixteen players went on the pitch and only one of them played at that level before [Veljko Simić, midfielder].”

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