Ceres basking in another spirited run in AFC CL ’20
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
CERES-NEGROS Football Club hurdled another test in the preliminary phase of the AFC Champions League 2020 after defeating Port FC of Thailand, 1-0, in an away match in Bangkok on Tuesday to advance to the qualification playoff match next week.
For Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic, the spirited run they are having in the competition is something they are basking in, taking it as an opportunity to get much-needed experience and confidence as they play, and win over, tough teams.
Captain Stephan Schrock provided what turned out to be the marginal goal in the 51st minute as the “Busmen” went on to defeat the host side to earn a date against FC Tokyo in Japan in the AFC Champions League Qualification Playoffs where a victory earns for them a spot in the group stage of Asia’s prestigious club competition.
By winning over Port FC, Ceres has duplicated its achievement in 2018 where it also reached the qualification playoffs.
The game played at the PAT Stadium was tightly fought right from the opening half with both teams having their runs and chances at a goal before settling for a nil-nil count at the halftime break.
Early in the second half Ceres caught a break when Port FC goalkeeper Worawut Srisupa committed an error that Mr. Schrock and the Busmen capitalized on.
Attempting to punch Mr. Schrock’s center clear, Mr. Worawut instead saw his move backfire as the ball flew into his own goal to hand the 1-0 lead to Ceres.
Port FC tried to get the goal back for the remainder of the contest, keeping the pressure on the Ceres defense.
But the Busmen were up to the challenge as they kept frustrating their opponents en route to booking the big win.
After the game, Mr. Vidakovic said they were still in the process of working to be in the form they want to be in but nonetheless said he is proud of the stand that his players showed against Port FC.
“It was a very tough game, especially in the second half. After two weeks of preparation I think we are still not ready but the boys gave everything in the game and I would like to congratulate them. They really did a good job. We were lucky a bit. We missed some chances. But that’s football. You’ll never know,” said the Ceres coach in the post-match press conference where he was joined by Mr. Schrock.
Mr. Vidakovic went on to say that they will continue to fight notwithstanding the challenges they are facing and hope they get to sustain their winning roll against FC Tokyo.
“That’s (FC Tokyo) another very hard game, even harder than this one. But for us this is an experience for the team. We are always fighting to win, tactically we will be working on it. There are challenges but for us it’s an experience towards getting better,” the Ceres coach said.
