MANILA, Philippines — Its stock greatly boosted by its historic run in the AFC Champions League Qualifiers, Philippine champ Ceres Negros FC embraces its tag as favorites as it vies in the AFC Cup beginning tonight in the Group F opener against Cambodian side Boeung Ket Angkor at Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod.
The Busmen, who made waves in the qualifiers of the top-tier Champions League by upsetting A-League heavyweight Brisbane Roar on enemy ground to reach the playoff stage, seek to carry their fine form over to the second-level AFC Cup, which starts off with a home outing against the C-League titlists.
“This game is very important because it’s the first game, it’s at home, and because we need to win. What we did before is forgotten already so it doesn’t mean anything for us. We have to go forward, we have to focus on the AFC Cup,” said coach Risto Vidakovic.
“All the respect we got from the game against Brisbane, we’ll play for it tomorrow. So this game, for me, is the most important game in the last three months. Much more important than Brisbane, Tianjin, and all the games we played in the Champions league. We cannot go there all confident,” he added.