Ceres Negros raring to bounce back

MANILA, Philippines — Denied of making history as the first from the Philippines to qualify for the prestigious AFC Champions League group stage, Ceres Negros FC now shifts its focus on the second-tier AFC Cup competition.

The Busmen, who bowed out of the Champs League after yielding a 0-2 setback to J1 League side FC Tokyo in the playoff round of the qualifiers, bring their act to the AFC Cup as one of two Filipino representatives. The other is Kaya Iloilo, the Philippines Football League’s runner-up.

Ceres had won the AFC Cup’s Asean zone title in 2017 and will look to at least match this achievement in the 2020 hostilities. The club is bracketed in Group G with Bali United of Indonesia, Than Quang Ninh of Vietnam and the winner of the qualifying playoffs between Master 7 of Laos and Svay Rieng FC of Cambodia in next month’s AFC Cup.

Coach Risto Vidakovic’s charges hope to carry some momentum from their run in the ACL Qualifiers, where they actually reached the third and final stage for the second time in two years.