Amid tough route for underdogs, Ceres seeks legend status in Tokyo

Ceres Negros coach Risto Vidakovic lamented at the current format in the AFC Champions League, which puts a tougher load on weaker football countries to qualify for the main draw. But that doesn’t mean his Busmen are just going to roll over against Japanese powerhouse FC Tokyo in the final round of the playoff next week.

Making the task even more difficult for Vidakovic and his players will be the absence of captain Stephan Schrock, who not only scored the winner against Port FC of Thailand on Tuesday in Bangkok, but is also the team’s most creative player.

“We are always fighting to win, we are tactically working on that. But we also have to be realistic and sometimes it’s very hard, especially for the Asean countries,” Vidakovic said. “The next match will be even harder than the match against Port.”

With two tough outings before the final playoff, Ceres always ran the risk of losing players due to suspension and injuries.

Schrock was given a yellow card for the second straight match against Port after a tackle on Heberty Fernandes in the 30th minute that meant he will be suspended in the next match.

It was a late challenge by Schrock, but one that was necessary because Port was dominating possession and looked likely to score.

The current format required the Busmen to get past Shan United of Myanmar and Port just to set a date with Tokyo in a match that will be played at Ajinomoto Stadium. At stake for Ceres is a first-ever appearance in the group stage.

Schrock believes his teammates will be up to the task.

“We are 90 minutes away from the absolute biggest result in Philippines club history so embrace the 90 minutes of running and embrace the pain,” Schrock said in his message to the team. “We would be legends if we somehow find a way to win there (in Tokyo).”