By Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — The Philippines’ Ceres-Negros FC will face a familiar foe in Shan United FC of Myanmar in the Group G opening match of the AFC Cup 2019 at the Panaad Stadium here Tuesday night.
The Philippine national league champions are looking to reclaim the ASEAN Zone title after finishing runner-up in 2018, a year after winning the zonal finals for the first time.
Ceres-Negros head coach Risto Vidakovic said the first match against Shan United is important and there is a big pressure on them to win at home.
“We have to work hard if we want to win. I hope the players learned something from the last game we played here. They (Shan United) have better preparation than us but we’re playing at home and I think with a big effort, we can do something,” the Serbian mentor said during the pre-match press conference held at Luxur Place on Monday afternoon.
Ceres-Negros had played against the Taunggyi-based club thrice last year. First, in the AFC Champions League preliminary stage where they defeated the Burmese team. Both teams also met in the group stage of the AFC Cup, with the Filipino club dominating the home and away matches.
Goalkeeper Roland Muller said Ceres-Negros is looking forward to a new challenge in this year’s continental club tournament.
“Now, we are focused on the AFC Cup. We prepared good. We had a good camp in Singapore. We will start a new chapter and we are ready,” the Filipino-German stopper said.
Shan United head coach Min Thu said that after facing Ceres-Negros last year, they have prepared well for Tuesday night’s match.
“We know the team. We have the best preparation to face them to get a good result. It’s always difficult to play away games. Anyway, we have good preparation, we will try our best,” he added.
Min Thu said they have a young squad of both local players, and foreign additions. Three Brazilians are suiting up for Shan United in the tournament.
Defender David Htan acknowledged that Ceres-Negros is “a very good team”.
“The game will be a very tough one. We will try our best to face them,” he said.
