AFC Champions League Debutants shine as goals and upsets mark preliminary stage (FIFA.com) 24 Jan 2018 Three debutant clubs enjoyed nights to remember on Tuesday as the 2018 AFC Champions League gathered momentum with the completion of the second Preliminary Round. A total of 21 goals lit up the four single-tie matches, but undoubtedly the result that will live longest in the memory was the victory by Philippines champions Ceres Negros over two-time A-League winners Brisbane Roar. The Filipinos came from a goal down to take a second half lead before running out deserved 3-2 victors in Brisbane, with Omid Nazari scoring what proved to be the winner 15 minutes from full time. Just seven days earlier, Ceres Negros, who are still in pre-season, struggled to overcome Myanmar’s Shan United on penalties in their competition bow. But the Roar had no answer despite the presence of four former Australian internationals and veteran Italian striker Massimo Maccarone. Ceres's next match will be against China’s Tianjin Quanjian on 30 January in the third and final round of preliminary matches. Thai first-timers Chiangrai United defeated Indonesia’s Bali United 2-1 in a contest that burst into life during extra time. Akarawin Sawasdee put Chiangrai ahead four minutes into extra time, and Pathompol Charoenrattanapirom soon doubled the home team's lead for the winner at the Singha Stadium. Vietnam’s FLC Thanh Hoa survived a late Eastern SC fightback to win 4-2 at the Mongkok Stadium. Hoang Dinh Tung was the hero with a second-half hat-trick as the V.League runners-up scored a comeback victory over the well-known Hong Kong outfit. Marian Mihail’s side now faces a meeting against traditional Korea Republic heavyweights Suwon Samsung Bluewings in Seoul. Champions League old-stagers Muangthong United comfortably sealed their progression after registering a comprehensive 5-2 win over Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim. The Thai side raced to a confident 3-0 lead early on before adding two after the break. Johor Darul Ta'zim salvaged some pride late on as Jorge Diaz netted twice in injury time. The group-stage commences on 12 February with the eventual winner to feature in the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup. http://www.fifa.com/live-scores/afc...ndex.html?_branch_match_id=461455754898287912
AFC Champions League Ceres-Negros ACL decider in jeopardy over visa issue Scott McIntyre investigates how Ceres-Negros’ quest to qualify for the AFC Champions League could now be out of their control. Just days after their stunning AFC Champions League qualification victory over Brisbane Roar, Ceres-Negros’ hopes of reaching the group stage hang by a thread as they remain stuck in limbo in the Philippines – unable to obtain the visas they need to travel to China for Tuesday’s final qualifier. The club has claimed that they’ve appealed to various bodies for help but with none forthcoming, they’ve called upon the AFC to postpone the match against Tianjin Quanjian to ensure that it’s played on an ‘equal’ level. Having applied for the necessary travel documents at the Chinese embassy in Manila immediately upon their return from Australia they were informed that there wasn’t enough time to process them before the weekend, meaning that the earliest they can secure the visas would be on Monday. Even if they are processed by then – and the club is not confident that will happen – it means the Ceres squad would need to catch an overnight flight to China, go without sleep or a training session and then play the biggest match in their – and their nation’s – history that same afternoon. Speaking exclusively with FOX Sports Asia, Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic, termed the situation ‘crazy.’ “I think there’s not enough time – it was a ten hour trip from Australia back to the Philippines and when we arrived it was already Friday,” said Vidakovic. “The Chinese embassy told us that they needed all the passports to process the visas and that, because it was Friday, they said they didn’t have enough time to give us the visas until after the weekend. “That means if we get those visas on Monday we then must travel overnight and we will arrive on the matchday and without sleeping or anything and we have to go and play the game. “This is a bad condition and difficult to compete so it’s a big problem how to organise everything to get there on time and play the game.” With a best-case situation seeing Ceres arrive in the arctic conditions of Tianjin on Tuesday morning that would give them perhaps as little as seven or eight hours before kickoff. Vidakovic called that ‘suicide’ for his team and implored the AFC to delay the game so that both clubs can compete on a more even footing – bearing in mind the extensive travel that the lower-ranked team already has to endure just to get to this stage. He added: “Of course we need more time and they have to understand that we came from another continent and then going to China we have less than one week to prepare visas and prepare everything. “We also need to think that we have to prepare the right equipment for this kind of match, it’s minus-11 there in China and in the Philippines it’s 35 degrees and everything is different so we need more time to compete in the same conditions as them and that’s only fair.” “We’ve tried to contact many people, including in the government here, to get the visas, but there’s no possibility and the problem now is we need to try and postpone the game. “Only the AFC or the ACL organisers can help us and the only possibility to compete in the same, fair, conditions is to move the game one or two days later.” However, on Sunday evening, an AFC spokesperson responding the queries by FOX Sports Asia clarified that the onus was on the club to ensure all proper documentation was in order. “Based on provisions of the ACL Regulations and Competition Operations Manual, each Club (and its Member Association), at their own expense, are solely responsible throughout the Competition for obtaining visas to enter the territory of a Host Association,” said the statement from the AFC. “Each Club must apply for all necessary visas for their Team Official Delegation no later than thirty (30) days prior to each match played outside its territory. This obligation includes potential away Matches, taking into account successful qualification for a further stage of a Competition.” “Ceres did not apply for a visa ahead of their AFC Preliminary stage game in Brisbane. Since the issue was recognised on Wednesday morning, AFC has worked tirelessly with the Chinese Football Association to ensure visas are available as soon as possible so the match can go ahead as scheduled.” http://www.foxsportsasia.com/footba...ceres-negros-acl-decider-jeopardy-visa-issue/ Ceres Negros asking for a postponement.
Ceres-Negros travels to the port city Monday night after securing their visas just hours earlier. The short break after being crowned champions last December 16 and the away games of the preliminary rounds made it difficult for the club as physical passports were needed to be submitted to acquire the said visas. ceresfootball.com/ceres-negros-faces-biggest-challenge-in-club-history-in-china/ If the AFC does not postpone this match, Ceres will arrive on matchday and will have only a few hours rest before the start of the match which will be held in subzero temperatures, which they have no time to adjust to.
FT Tianjin 2-0 Ceres Good effort by Ceres despite the trying circumstances, the stronger opponent and the disparity in experience and payscale. The score is respectable at this level. The match went through as scheduled and Ceres had to make do with the short rest.
Play-off: Tianjin Quanjian FC 2-0 Ceres Negros FC Tuesday, January 30, 2018 Tianjin: A brace from Frenchman Anthony Modeste saw China’s Tianjin Quanjian secure a 2-0 win over a stubborn Ceres Negros of the Philippines to secure their place in the group stage of the 2018 AFC Champions League. The Filipino club started the brighter at Tianjin Olympic Sports Center Stadium and had the best chance of the early exchanges when Stephan Schrock’s volley was well saved by Zhang Lu. But against the run of play it was the home side who took the lead after 18 minutes. Axel Witsel’s shot from the edge of the box could only be palmed out for a corner, from which Modeste towered above the Ceres defence to smash home a powerful header. All three of Tianjin Quanjian’s international stars were involved in their second, with Witsel’s header in midfield finding Alexandre Pato who expertly cushioned the ball over the top of the Ceres-Negros defence to play in Modeste, who made no mistake with just goalkeeper Toni Doblas to beat. The win for Tianjin Quanjian sees them join Hong Kong’s Kitchee, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of Korea Republic and the winners of Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol and Thailand’s Muangthong United in Group E, with their first match at home to Kitchee in two weeks. http://www.the-afc.com/competitions...y-off-tianjin-quanjian-fc-2-0-ceres-negros-fc
All the SEA teams(2 Thai,1 Viet, 1 Phil) playing in this stage lost their games today and have been eliminated by East Asian clubs from Japan, Korea and China.
Hey I was shocked to wake up to see only 2 given all the imported talent on that team. I was shocked to even see that we got shots on goal.
Which of these 4 non-Asian foreign players for Al-Gaharafa are considered Qatari nationals now: Amado (Portugal), Quijada (Colombia), Jamal (Sudan) and Sneijder (Netherlands)? All 4 got some playing time together in the match it looks like.
Good run by Filipino club there. If you had enough time to recover perhaps you good pull another upset. I laughed so hard when I read this comment on youtube under Ceres's match today. "Modeste should play in ceres "negros" ni*gga got skills."
Thanks. It was a good effort, but we would never know if it would have made a difference. The French guy Modeste(who is of African descent) was fantastic. He scored 2 goals and along with the other 2 foreign European based internationals on the Chinese team, turned the tide for Tianjin. The transfer amount that Tianjin payed for just one of those internationals from Brazil, France and Belgium would have been enough to pay the entire Ceres payroll for years. BTW, the Spaniards named the island Negros because of some dark skinned aboriginal tribes(related to those seen in Australia and other SEA nations) they found in the island which doesn't apply to the majority of the inhabitants.
All the small countries are not supposed to go through. The Big Three (China, Japan and Korea) don't want to play you or travel to your country. That's why AFC makes sure the Big Three play at home and play only one game.
Acc. to this MA rankings above , the Philippines is currently in 9th place in the East Region which entitles us to one playoff spot(taken by Ceres) in the AFC Champions League. We need to rise to 6th place in the East Region to get one direct spot in the group stages and one playoff spot in future editions of the AFC Champions League which is plausible in the near future as long as we do well in the AFC Cup and maintain our national team rankings, since our low club ratings in 2015 will be dropped next year(only most recent 4 year ratings are taken into account). India also has the potential(even better than the Philippines) to rise to 6th spot in the near future (assuming they do well in the AFC Cup) if the 2015 ratings are dropped.
Here is an article illustrating your point: ASEAN teams need a helping hand and a second leg John Duerden reckons the AFC Champions League format should be tweaked to give ASEAN teams some help. And there we have it. Four East Asian teams in the final round of the playoffs for the 2018 AFC Champions League and all four go through at the expense of Southeast Asian opposition. The four groups of four in the East Asian half of the first round will contain four from China, four from South Korea and four from Japan.Four’s all round then. It’s not fair. It’s not fair for Southeast Asia. There have been plenty of articles written over the years, some by this writer, arguing for a greater share of the slots for teams from the ASEAN region. In all my years spent living in East Asia and Southeast Asia, one thing is clear: there is a greater enthusiasm in the latter for the Champions League than in much of the former. This is about the play-offs however. They have become an established part of the Asian football calendar. For fans in the eastern half of the continent, they mark the start of the new season, a very early look at how at their teams will line-up. They have the potential to be barnstorming games, a rip-roaring curtain raiser for the year. But this does not happen for the simple reason that the final play-offs consist of one leg only. These potential blockbusters are robbed of their second act. The climax to these events never comes. Take Tuesday. Two big-spending Chinese teams in Tianjin Quanjian and Shanghai SIPG were at home to Ceres Negros of the Philippines and Changrai United of Thailand respectively. Two time continental champions Suwon Bluewings of South Korea hosted FLC Thanh Hoa of Vietnam and J-League team Kashiwa Reysol saw off Thai titans Muangthong United. Four home games, four home wins, 11 scored and just one conceded. Dramatic these encounters were not. It is not just about drama however but about fairness. It is not fair that these defeats help define the reputation of Southeast Asian football in other parts of the continent. Yet observers are only getting half the story. If there have to be one legged games, then it would even things up a little if Southeast Asian teams were given the home ties. When China, Japan and Korea are the established nations with continental titles and are given home advantage against teams that are still finding their way in Asian club competitions, it just adds to the feeling of the bigger boys getting a helping hand. The best solution is to have two legs. Of course, it adds to the list of fixtures for teams to play. In the eastern side at least, this is not a real problem. Clubs in the region are in pre-season mode anyway. It would just be a case of swapping a friendly for a competitive game. Plenty of clubs in East Asia spend their build-ups in warmer climes and some are already in the ASEAN region holding training camps. A second leg would be another excuse to head to Thailand, Malaysia or Vietnam. It is not just about the games. On Tuesday, we saw teams from a part of the world that doesn’t do winter (despite what people in Malaysia and Vietnam have said recently due to unusually cool weather) and rarely sees temperatures below 20C, having to head north and play in the snow with the mercury well south of freezing. These not only tough places to go, tough teams to face but tough conditions to play in. The likes of Muangthong and Ceres and all the others should get the chance to enjoy a little home advantage of their own, to get the northerners down into the heat and humidity and give them a pre-season work out they will never forget, roared on by passionate home crowds. Some may say that the 11-1 combined scoreline shows that a second leg wouldn’t make a huge difference but that is, again, unfair. When you have only one leg then you need to win. If you go behind, you have to attack and run the risk of a heavier defeat, otherwise you are going home with nothing. When there is a second leg to consider, then the situation is different. Visitors can play with that in mind, happy to restrict the hosts and perhaps get an away goal to make the journey home a little more comfortable. At the moment, it is the big boys if East Asia who are sitting pretty. One-off home games in wintry conditions against teams from weaker leagues means that the odds are stacked in their favour. It is time to make things a little fairer and give ASEAN teams a helping hand in the form of a second leg. http://www.foxsportsasia.com/footba...ams-need-a-helping-hand-and-a-second-leg/amp/ I totally agree. The smaller countries are handicapped enough as it is. They should set fair conditions for both parties in the tie by setting up a home and away format. It would also help the smaller teams financially by drawing bigger crowds in the offseason for the smaller teams.
^ As long as rich countries money sponsors AFC, they get favors left and right. What is fair does not matter for them. Take Saudi Arabia for instance. They are bribing their way through AFC and Fifa despite CAIS giving the right to Iranian teams to have home matches. Saudi Arabia won't give Visa to Iranian nationals and forbade its citizen to travel to Iran. Just for this ridiculous rule they came up a couple years ago, they pretend Iran is unsafe! Their petrodollars are doing the real talking in AFC as well. It doesn't matter if your football is the best in continent or you have football loving fans, what matter is that if you have enough money to bribe them. Qatar had the same problem with Saudi Arabia but AFC forced Saudis to play in Qatar. Now, that is a double standard in bright day light. In east Asia China is the bully guy and you guys are getting the short end of the stick. I fully agree with John Dureden's idea and understand the situation of teams from ASEAN region specially now that some teams like Ceres Negros show that much of potentials.
The Chinese and Japanese sponsors pay a lot of money to the clubs and to AFC , so AFC must ensure their clubs get to the group stage at least.
Not just ASEAN, it's all clubs beside clubs from top 4-5 on each sides. Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, all face monumental challenge to reach CL. Qualifying to the group stage would have been like winning the title for them They should have their own path to qualify. I think each of four top leagues should have 3 group stage berths with no qualifying participation - or that 4th from each play together for one spot. All remaining should fight for remaining three/four spots. Groups are always made of teams from same countries (West of 16 teams from five leagues, East of 16 teams from six leagues), there are mostly same teams over and over again, attendances are bad, competition is practically like NBA, closed competition. It got annoying, I am not interested at all this time. And small clubs and leagues surely can't go forward with participating in rather weak AFC Cup. One-legged playoff and rigged draw is AFC's embarrassment.
AFC created the AFC Cup for the small countries to play in. It is the playground for the small countries. The Big Three (China, Japan and Korea) are never expected to play in it, they only want to play each other and maybe the A-League clubs.
It should be like the UEFA Champions League where every country has a path to the highest club competition in Asia.
the ACL is on it's way of getting more and more prestige within the region, the AFC again rises prize money of ACL, the attendance numbers in China and Japan rises every year, these two countries has two of the biggest (domestic) club football market in Asia so their success in ACL is very important to AFC, thus Korea is also important too as they have the best league in asia, being the most succesful league in ACL. C/J/K clubs had ensure the competitvness and quality of ACL matches, and is not like mostly the same teams plays in ACL all the time, since 2003, 14 Japanese clubs, 13 Chinese clubs and 10 Korean clubs had participated in the tournament. Back to old days when each country has two spots in Group Stage, the ASEAN cllubs had proved their inability to enter later stage of the tournament, so under current format to fetch in more ASEAN clubs means the playing quality will drop. West asian has more competitive leagus/clubs who deserves to play in ACL, I think they should mix west and east together in group stage, ie expand it to a 48 clubs tournaments, 16 groups with 3 clubs in each group, so that champions from smaller countries enters group stages directly, then 16 group winners qualified to round of 16, with 4 group of 4 teams, top two teams of each group qualify to quater-finals.
I agree, the UCL is fun because you have clubs from countries like San Marino or Faroe Islands, that only need to win a few matches in a row and they can take on Barcelona.
They should make the qualifying rounds two legs affairs first. Most countries are in their pre-season and they are not really very busy anyway. The small countries can at least get some gate receipts income from the big teams playing in their countries. The Big Three cannot/should not have the ACL all to themselves and give nothing away.