CERES Negros FC head coach Risto Vidakovic expressed gladness to finally return home and prepare to play before their fans on Tuesday against Boeung Ket FC of Cambodia for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup at Panaad Park and Stadium.
Vidakovic, who arrived Friday, February 9, together with his team, said that while he has not set a goal for this season he stressed that their upcoming match on Tuesday is important to them.
“We might not have played against them [Boeung Ket FC], but we were able to play against some of the Asia’s top clubs and that helped us a lot,” he added.
He is unsure if midfielder Manny Ott will be able to suit up for the match.
“Manny is not yet 100 percent coming off an injury, but we will see because he’s very important to the team,” he said.
Vidakovic added that despite being quality players, they may not play in this game.
Before leaving Manila, the team had a couple of tune-up matches against some Philippine Football League clubs as part of their preparations in the AFC Cup.
Ceres FC, the inaugural Philippines Football League champion, found themselves back in the AFC Cup group stage for a third time after exiting the AFC Champions League play-off phase last month. After disposing of Shan United FC and Brisbane Roar in the preliminaries, Ceres were beaten by China’s Tianjin Quanjian to seal their return to a competition where they advanced to the quarterfinals last season.
Boeung Ket FC, the 2017 Cambodian League champion, advanced to the group stage in their debut appearance in the AFC Cup last year, seeing off Lao Toyota FC in the play-offs to advance to the main competition, where they finished third in their group.
