MANILA, Philippines – Ceres-La Salle FC almost got away with a king-size upset before settling for a 2-2 draw against the tournament’s strongest team North Korea’s Rimyongsu at the start of the AFC President’s Cup on Tuesday night.
Pumped up by a huge hometown crowd in Panaad Stadium in Bacolod, Ceres-La Salle leaned on national mainstays Juani Guirado and Patrick Reichelt to register the impressive draw that augurs well in their mission to clinch one of the top two spots to qualify for the final round.
The Fil-Spanish Guirado, who is on loan from Spanish third division club CD Burgos just for this tournament, struck with a beautifully executed free kick 10 minutes into the match.
The North Korean side, bolstered by some of the 2010 World Cup campaigners, pressed their attack and looked for the equalizer. But it took them 29 minutes before they could break Ceres’ stone-wall defense.
Ri Kwang-Hyok tied the match six minutes before halftime.
Ceres-La Salle re-grouped at the start of the second half and was rewarded by a Reichelt goal and once again took the lead, 2-1.
Ri, who has two AFC Challenge Cup titles with DPR Korea under his belt, bagged a brace in the 60th minute to tie the match anew.
Ceres-La Salle and Rimyongsu are currently tied for second place after International Turkmen-Turkish University Football Club blanked Chinese Taipei’s Tatung FC, 2-0, in the other match.
The Bacolod-based national champions will next face Tatung on Thursday hoping for a win that will bring them closer to qualifying to the final round.