Ceres eyes another celebration at home

Panaad Stadium hopes to host another celebration after playing witness to Ceres-Negros’ historic run in the AFC Cup. —STEPHEN ANG/CONTRIBUTOR

BACOLOD CITY—Three days removed from its historic victory in the AFC Cup, Ceres-Negros shifts its focus back on the Philippines Football League (PFL) as it collides with rival Global-Cebu in an all-Visayas encounter on Saturday.

Kickoff for the biggest match of the season so far is at 4 p.m. at Panaad Stadium, where Ceres will also parade the returning Stephan Schrock and Spanish winger Antonio Bello.

The Busmen, who reached the AFC Cup Asean zonal finals at the expense of Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim last Wednesday, are actually making their home debut.

It will be the first of four meetings this season for the two clubs, but Global skipper Misagh Bahadoran vowed there won’t be any letup from his side with the match coming just four days after its heartbreaking loss to Home United in the AFC Cup zonal semifinals.

“We have a chance to move on from the loss in the AFC Cup,” said Bahadoran. “Ceres is a good team and they always bring out the best in our team so it’s going to be a good match.”

While the Busmen are riding high on their historic achievement, Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic reminded his players that they’d be facing a Global squad that had dealt Ceres some painful defeats.

“Global is one of the stronger teams in the PFL,” said Vidakovic.