By Jonas Terrado
Game Tuesday
(Rizal Memorial Stadium)
7:30 p.m. — Ceres vs Svay Rieng
Ceres-Negros is not treating Cambodian league champion Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng lightly as it starts the campaign in the AFC Cup group stage Tuesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Ceres-Negros striker Bienvenido Maranon, left, shake hands with Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng’s Prak Mony Udom during the AFC Cup pre-match press conference at the Century Park Hotel. With them are, from left, Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic and Svay Rieng counterpart Conor Nestor. (Jonas Terrado)
Coach Risto Vidakovic warned the Busmen against complacency even as they are favored to gain the maximum three points in the Group G match set at 7:30 p.m.
“This game is very hard to prepare because everyone thinks that this is going to be an easy game,” Vidakovic said during Monday’s pre-match press conference at the Century Park Hotel.
“The last time we played a Cambodian team we beat them 9-0 at home,” added Vidakovic, referring to Ceres’ 9-0 drubbing of Boeungket Angkor in the 2018 group stage held at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.
“It’s a very dangerous game for us. We need to win and if we are not serious with our approach then we can have a very hard game.”
Svay Rieng, which won its country’s C-League after losing just one game, made its way to the continental competition by way of a 7-1 aggregate win over Laotian side Master 7 in a two-legged playoff round.
Coach Conor Nestor said his team is determined to give Ceres a serious threat in hopes of stealing a result on the road.
“You will see a team with absolutely nothing to lose” said Nestor, whose club is in the second-tier competition for the very first time.
The Philippines Football League and Copa Paulino Alcantara winners flirted at a possible group stage slot in the prestigious AFC Champions League following wins over Myanmar’s Shan United and Thailand’s Port FC before falling short against Japan’s FC Tokyo in the playoff round.
Ceres is seeking either to top Group G or emerge as the best-second placer from the three ASEAN groups in order to make the zonal semis for the fourth straight year.
Team captain Stephan Schrock and foreign strikers Bienvenido Maranon and Robert Lopez Mendy will again lead the Ceres attack while Manny Ott is expected to see action in his return from a brief spell in Thailand.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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