BY JONAS TERRADO
Game Tuesday
(Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo)
6 p.m. – FC Tokyo vs Ceres
Match winner Stephan Schrock praised the resolve showed by Ceres-Negros in claiming a spot in the playoff round of the AFC Champions League via Tuesday night’s 1-0 upset of Thai club Port FC.
Schrock came through with the only goal of the match in the 51st minute, giving the Busmen the victory over Port before stunned fans at the PAT Stadium in Bangkok.
“I’m very happy and very proud of what we’ve done,” Schrock said. “It’s not only the goal but it’s the way we helped each other.
“Obviously the legs were gone after 60-70 minutes for most of us, but we can be very proud of that. We are always capable of producing an upset, we believed in us, we worked for this and congratulations to our team,” he added.
The win put Ceres one win shy of making the group stage of the top-tier Asian club competition.
But if beating Port, which finished third in last year’s Thai League 1 table, Ceres will be up for its toughest test yet.
Ceres will face FC Tokyo in next week’s playoff round at the Ajinomoto Stadium in the Japanese capital. The Gas Men placed second in last season’s J-League, one of Asia’s biggest leagues.
No Filipino club has ever reached the Champions League group stage.
Schrock’s goal came in unexpected fashion, replicating the one he scored for the Philippines against Malaysia in the recent Southeast Asian Games.
The star midfielder took a short corner from Mike Ott before his cross hit Port goalkeeper Worawut Srisupa.
Worawut tried for a split-second to bat it away but his efforts went futile as the ball went past the goal line.
“We had some ideas in the set piece and we wanted to execute on one of them,” said Schrock. “I actually misinterpreted the sign of Mikey (Ott) so it was the wrong decision. Luckily, it turns out well for me.”
