By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

CERES-NEGROS FC shoots for a place where it has never been to before when it plays FC Tokyo in an away AFC Champions League playoff match today in Japan.

At stake for the “Busmen” is a spot in the main draw of the prestigious Asian tournament, becoming the first Philippine football club to achieve such feat if it succeeds in going away with a win over FC Tokyo in the scheduled match at the Tokyo Stadium.

The Bacolod-based team put itself in such a position to advance to the group play of the AFC Champions League 2020 after beating Myanmar’s Shan United FC, 3-2, and Thailand’s Port FC, 1-0, in the two previous rounds of the preliminaries early this month.

Against Port FC, Ceres showed much resilience in hacking out the key victory that kept them in the hunt for the main draw of the competition.

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.

The game 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 win.

After their victory, Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic paid tribute to his team for sticking to the game plan and putting up a tough stand amid a tough challenge from 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,” Mr. Vidakovic said after their win over Port FC on Jan. 21.

The Busmen said they are expecting a tough fight against FC Tokyo but are also using the opportunity to gain valuable experience and confidence as a team.

“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.

“To play Tokyo is an honor. They have competing at a high level against tough competition and these are the teams you want to compete against to see where you are at,” veteran James Younghusband, for his part, said.

Ceres unfortunately will play today’s game sans Mr. Schrock who is expected to sit out the match after accumulating two yellow cards in the previous rounds.

Ceres was also on the verge of making it to the main draw of the AFC Champions League back in 2018 but fell short after losing to Tianjin Quanjian FC in the playoffs. It is a narrative it hopes to change in this edition of the tournament.

The Ceres-FC Tokyo match is set for 6 p.m. (Manila time) and broadcast over FOX Sports 2.

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