MANILA, Philippines—Another Philippine side absorbed a heartbreaking loss in the Maldives Tuesday night.
Less than a year after the Azkals fell short of their goal in Male, two-time national champion Ceres La Salle bowed to Maldivian squad Maziya, 0-1, in their AFC Cup playoff at the National Stadium in the Maldivian capital.
The Bacolod-based squad failed to recover after a late goal and missed their target of advancing to the group stage of the prestigious continental tournament.
Instead of flying to India for the group stage duel with Bengaluru, Ceres is returning home in despair after coming close to joining fellow PH side Global in the main tournament.
Global which earned the outright spot for the Philippines after ruling the United Football League last season, starts its campaign Wednesday against South China of Hong Kong at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The winning goal came in the 81st minute when Maziya defender Samdooh intercepted Manny Ott’s pass for Patrick Reichelt and lobbed the ball past Ceres goalkeeper Michael Casas. The Ceres defense was actually caught napping, giving Samdooh time and space to deliver the ball into a dangerous area.
The loss was especially painful for the likes of Reichelt and Ceres skipper Juani Guirado who were also part of the Azkals side that narrowly lost to Palestine in the AFC Challenge Cup finals last May. Cedelf P. Tupas