A nation was expecting ahead of the visit of Tajikistan in March. Having won two and drawn three of their five games in the third round of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifiers, the Philippines stood on the verge of creating history ahead of their final Group F game against the Central Asians at Manila’s Rizal Memorial Stadium. 

Unbeaten and two points clear of their opponents, and Yemen, at the top of the standings, their task was simple: avoid defeat and qualify for the competition for the first time. The achievement would cap a remarkable rise from ASEAN minnows to joining Asia’s elite at the continental competition. 

The hosts had enjoyed the better of the first half but failed to make their advantage count; however, the game was turned on its head just after the hour. 

After the Philippines had failed to clear a Tajikistan attack, Nuriddin Davronov burst into the box and was impeded by the tracking back Kevin Ingreso. The referee pointed to the spot and the crowd was stunned into silence. Akhtam Nazarov converted and the Southeast Asians’ hopes of qualifying were up in the air.

The first leg finished 4-2 to Ceres, but anyone at Thuwanna Youth Training Centre Stadium who thought the outcome was a foregone conclusion was forced to reassess in just the second minute, as Yangon burst out of the traps and took the lead through a wonderful Kosuke Uchida strike.

Ceres reacted well to that early blow and restored parity and their two-goal aggregate advantage just six minutes later, as Manuel Ott robbed Aung Yan Lin deep in the Yangon half, fed Stephan Schrock, and then tucked home a return pass from Schrock after the German-Filipino had powered past the challenges of Kyaw Khant Min and Kekere Moukailou.

In one of the great Asian club football upsets of recent times, Ceres Negros - who only started as a club in 2012 - became the first team from the Philipines to reach the final stage of AFC Champions League qualifying after defeating Australia's Brisbane Roar 3-2 at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.

the-AFC.com caught up with two-goal hero Bienvenido Marañón to get his reaction on a special night for football in the Southeast Asian nation.

Q: Hello Bienvenido, firstly congratulations on the incredible result against Brisbane Roar: Ceres Negros are the first Filipino side into the AFC Champions League Play-offs! How are you feeling today, and has it sunk in what the team achieved yet?

I feel very happy, personally and for the team, because it's a reflection of the work this club has put in over these last few years. It's a team that keeps growing and has now put Ceres Negros in the forefront of ASEAN football.

It hasn't really sunk in yet what we have achieved. I couldn't even sleep last night after this historic occasion for us and Filipino football.

“The AFC Quarterly is the confederation's latest effort to reach out to the millions of passionate fans of Asian football and put on splendid display the game’s glorious achievements,” said AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong. “The biggest endeavour of this magazine is to make household names of our players and put the spotlight on our many competitions, which produce countless moments of top-notch football entertainment.”AFC Player of the Year Lee Keun-ho from Korea Republic is the cover star of the inaugural edition, which also features interviews with 2007 AFC Asian Cup winning striker Younus Mahmood, Olympic bronze medal-winning coach Hong Myung-bo, and Uzbek legend Mirdjalal Kasimov.

Ceres were on top from the start and Manny Ott came close in the seventh minute when he curled a free-kick just wide from the edge of the penalty area.

Stephan Schrock could have opened the scoring just minutes later but shot over after being played through by Maranon, before Sekou Sylla fired wide down the other end midway through the half in a rare sight of goal for the visitors.

The hosts then took the lead in the 29th minute with a stunning effort from Spaniard Maranon, who raced on to a throughball from Manny Ott, looked up and lifted a delicate chip over the stranded goalkeeper Sann Sat Naing from the right side of the area.

Ceres went two up less than five minutes later when Mike Ott’s strike from distance was parried out by the Yangon custodian, only for midfielder Patrick Reichelt to be at the right place at the right time to finish from close in.

As half-time approached, Maranon tapped home his second from a yard out after Manny Ott’s corner from the right found its way to the forward at the back post.

With three wins in their previous three matches at home in this campaign, the Indonesian side came into the second leg confident they could overturn the 3-2 deficit from the first leg but were dealt an early blow when a mistake from goalkeeper Rizky Darmawan gifted Ishak his first of the evening.

But no less than a minute later and the home side were gifted an equaliser when Novri Setiawan was taken down in the box, with Marko Simic converting the resulting spot-kick.

Scores weren’t level for long, however, as the referee again pointed to the spot, this time awarding Home United a penalty after Rezaldi Hehanusa was adjudged to have fouled Ishak in the area.

The 34-year-old Singaporean international stepped up to take the spot-kick only to see his effort saved by Rizky, but the keeper could do nothing about the follow up as Ishak made amends for his miss to restore the visitors’ lead.