With another brave and clinical performance on enemy ground, Philippines Football League champion Ceres Negros pulled off one of the biggest upsets in AFC Champions League history, while boosting the country’s football reputation anew.
By stunning Brisbane Roar, 3-2, Tuesday night in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifying round at Queensland Sports and Athletic Centre, the Busmen became the first Philippine club to surpass the second round of the continent’s top-tier club competition and set up a duel with Chinese powerhouse Tianjin Quanjian.
Another upset over Tianjin, a club that boasts Brazilian star Alexandre Pato and Belgian national team standout Axel Witsel, will send the Bacolod-based club in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in history.
Given little chance against the formidable Roar, the Busmen got two goals from Spanish attacker Bienvenido Marañon, before Filipino-Iranian midfielder Omid Nazari scored what turned out to be the decisive goal late in the second half.
Brisbane finished third in the tough A-League, which is considered one of the best leagues in the Asian Football Confederation, and has three players with World Cup experience in Greek defender Avram Papadopulous and Australians Ivan Franjic and Brett Holman.
For a while, Brisbane was in control with former Italian international Massimo Maccarone putting the hosts in front with a close range finish in the 35th minute.
But Ceres came up with a trademark response that put the hosts on their heels.
The Busmen got a deserved equalizer from Marañon just before halftime. Marañon then combined with Mike Ott in the 65th minute and curled one home from just inside the box.
Nazari scored off a scramble with 15 minutes remaining as Ceres weathered a late surge by Brisbane that included a goal from Franjic in the 87th minute.
Ceres’ victory augurs well for what has been a difficult time for club football in the country following the pullout of two clubs from the PFL—Meralco Manila and Ilocos United—the past two weeks.
Struggling to gain foothold with sponsors and fans, club football in the country got a huge boost from the Busmen, whose meteoric rise has put the spotlight on Philippine football again.