Cebu FC and Shan United are locking horns in the hopes of nailing their first win tonight in the 2023-2024 Asian Football Confederation Cup at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Both Cebu and Shan are coming into the match with fire in their eyes as they finally seek to get a victory in this season’s AFC Cup.
As it stands, Shan, the defending champion of the Myanmar National League, is in third place after having a -7 goal difference despite sharing the same 0-0-2 win-draw-loss record with Cebu, which has a -9 goal difference.
Despite this, the Burmese club never scored in their two defeats in the AFC Cup, losing 0-3 to Australia’s Macarthur last 21 September before absorbing a 0-4 defeat against Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Crown FC last 5 October.
The Gentle Giants, meanwhile, were able to score in their 2-8 loss to MacArthur on 5 October courtesy of Matthew Jurman and Rintaro Hama in the 84th and 89th minutes, respectively.
But with Cebu coming off from a 0-1 loss to Davao Aguilas in the first leg of the Copa Paulino Alcantara semifinal, head coach Joshua Schirmer is hoping that loss will give the team more motivation to notch a win at the expense of the Burmese.
“The expectations never change. We still expect to win every match that we play,” Schirmer said.
“It was a disappointing result over the weekend but it was a good wake-up call and now we will see the response of the players.”
Forwards Hama, Arda Cinkir and Kintaro Miyagi are expected to lead Cebu against Shan.
Goalkeeper Jun Badelic said they need to play better as they are also carrying the country every time they play in the AFC Cup.
After all, the Gentle Giants have nothing to lose against a seasoned Asian campaigner in Shan in their debut season in the AFC Cup.
“After that Copa game, we talked about everything and we told the guys we need to get the three points. We’re not just representing Cebu in this tournament but also the Philippines,” Badelic said.
“I think the boys are focused now. We’re ready for this.”
