Ceres La Salle FC earns draw versus North Korea’s Rimyongsu in AFC President's Cup

Ceres La Salle FC earned a 2-2 draw against North Korea club Rimyongsu, Tuesday at Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod, in their 2014 AFC President’s Cup opener.

Ceres has beefed up their roster in the last couple of months, signing Azkals Patrick Reichelt, Marwin and Marvin Angeles, Carlie de Murga, and later on, Jason Sabio and Juani Guirado. On loan from Army-GTI FC is Azkals keeper Eduard Sacapano, while the team also tabbed Green Archers United FC’s Arnie Pasinabo Jr..

Ceres FC won the PFF-Smart National Club Championships versus Leyte Football Association’s Global FC to qualify and represent the Philippines in the tourney.

Ceres’ Starting XI was impressive, with Michael Louie Casas starting at keeper and Azkals Guirado, de Murga, Reichelt, and Marwin Angeles. Casas was also part of the National Team at one point.

From the start, Rimyongsu seemed to be favoring long balls and just trying their luck in the last third. But even with that tactic, it was a pretty physical game.

At about the eighth minute, de Murga got tackled and Ceres was awarded a free kick just meters from the box. Juani, wearing a number nine jersey, took the free kick and made it 1-0 for the home team. Needless to say, the crowd went wild.

After that goal, Ceres defended stoutly. Throughout the game, Guirado and Kim Sang Min were massive for the home team.

At one point, De Murga was shown a yellow, perhaps because of complaining too much, but de Murga claimed that he was elbowed in the face.

The equalizer by Rimyongsu was controversial. There was a mad scramble inside the box as Ceres’ defense blocked the ball about three times before the shot went in. Additionally, the linesman had raised his flag. After the ball hit the back of the net, the referee decreed it a goal before conferring with the linesman. The proper procedure would have been to confer with the linesman first, before officially calling it a goal. It was so confusing that even until after the game, the officials could not say who exactly scored the goal for Rimyongsu.

The game seemed less testy in the second half, as the players came out of their dressing areas with seemingly cooler heads.

Ceres started the second half on fire, as Reichelt slammed one in past Rimyongsu’s Ju Kwang Min very early on.

However, Rimyongsu equalized again, this time on a questionable decision by Casas. The Ceres keeper, who was otherwise brilliant in the game, surged forward and was on the same line as his defense, leaving the goal open. Rimyongsu’s Ri Kwang Hyok just lobbed the ball over everyone and into the goal.

Ceres looked a little bit confused after the equalizer but settled down after a few minutes. Rimyongsu made several more attempts but everything went high, wide, or offside as they again relied more and more on long balls.

Guirado was a rock in the last few minutes of the game, and even had a chance to move forward and help on the offense. He was ultimately stopped by a Korean player who basically pulled his shorts down. The referee did not call anything and Guirado was left with a look of disbelief on his face.

There were three minutes added to the second half but it was not enough for Ceres FC to get another goal in, and the game ended at 2-2.

Rimyongsu coach Jon Man Ho said after the match that it was a tough battle, “especially because of the change in the weather.” The Rimyongsu coach has coached the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s team multiple times. Additionally, some of his players are members of their national team, some having even played in the 2010 World Cup.

“They played well,” Jon Man Ho added about Ceres FC. “Now we know what we have to do.”

For his part, Ceres FC Team Manager Ali Rojas Go did not seem at all disappointed during the post match press conference, saying, “We had a very good result against DPR Korea. Even during the [President’s Cup] draw they were one of the favorites to go through to the next round.”

Go was all praises for his squad. “They played as a team, they played like a family. We were going for counterattacks, that was the game plan and it was efficient.” The counterattacks were Ceres FC’s answer to a team with the quality of their foes.

Casas was apologetic about the second goal, and promised to bounce back. It was not a sorry performance from him though, as he more than made up for it several amazing stops.

Ceres FC needs to win just one of their next assignments to move into the next round of the President’s Cup. Asked about which one he prefers to win, Ceres FC’s coach Cha Soungyooung, a Korean, gamely said he wants to win both and even underscored the fact that they could have won the game versus Rimyongsu.

Go had a more sober answer, although he looked like he agreed with coach Cha, pointing out, “Turkmenistan (FC Httu) are no push-overs, Chinese Taipei (Tatung Company) might be easier to win against.“

Both Ceres FC officials and Casas were all praises for the crowd. Panaad was about 85 percent full during a game that started at 5pm on a weekday. Estimates put the crowd at about 7,000 people.

Ceres FC next goes up against Chinese Taipei’s Tatung Company on Thursday, May 9, 7pm, at the Panaad Park and Stadium. - AMD, GMA News