MANILA – Ceres-Negros F.C. hopes to score another upset when it faces F.C. Tokyo of Japan in the preliminary round 3 of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League tonight at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.
The match at seven in the evening (6 p.m. Manila time) will determine who among the two teams will earn a spot in Group F of the Champions League alongside South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai, China’s Shanghai Shenhua, and Australia’s Perth Glory.
Ceres-Negros head coach Risto Vidakovic admitted that their match up against F.C. Tokyo will be very much tougher compared to their 1-0 upset over Thailand’s Port F.C. in the second preliminary leg.
“It’s another very hard game, even harder than the last one. For us, it’s an experience for the team. We are always fighting to win. Trying to win. We are tactically working on that but sometimes we have to be realistic,” Vidakovic said.
“It’s very hard especially for ASEAN countries. It’s not easy to qualify. Because you play one game at home and another out of the country against very strong opponents where the budget is maybe seven times higher. But for us it’s an experience and we are going there to compete,” he added.
Ceres-Negros midfielder Stephan Schröck believes that the Busmen have what it takes to pull off another upset and gain a historic spot in the group stage of the Champions League.
“We are always capable to produce an upset. We believe in us. We worked hard for this and congratulations to the team,” said Schröck, who was instrumental in Ceres-Negros’ win over Port FC last Tuesday with his lone goal.
“We had some ideas in the set piece and we wanted to execute. Actually, I misinterpreted the sign. It was a wrong decision. Luckily, it turns out well for me,” the Filipino-German recalled.
If Ceres-Negros fails to make it to the group stage of the AFC Champions League, they will continue their continental campaign in Group G of the AFC Cup, matching up with Than Quang Ning of Vietnam and Indonesian champs in Bali United./PN
