As the four-time defending Philippines Football League champions, United City, even in its past incarnation as Ceres-Negros, are not used to losing in its conquests domestically and in the AFC Cup.
Things change, though, when you try to step up to meet a higher level. United City had a respectable start to its 2021 AFC Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw against China’s Beijing Guoan, only for it to receive a 7-0 humbling at the hands of South Korea’s Daegu on Tuesday evening.
“Our preparation for this (tournament), you know it’s not been a long preparation,” lamented coach Jason Withe. “As I’ve said in the first press conference, some of these boys have not played in nearly a year.
“When you walk into the Champions League, it can be very difficult and you can be punished.”
United City had as much as 57 percent possession in the first half but failed to make anything of it as it was Daegu that raced to a three-goal cushion in the said period. The second half proved to be the same story as four more goals sailed past goalie Anthony Pinthus.
One thing noticeable was the Filipino champions’ determination to play from the back. While it is an admirable way of doing things, the strategy did not do them any favours as possession was gifted to Daegu’s players, who punished United City mercilessly.
“I just thought the (Daegu players) were very clinical,” said the 49-year-old. “We made mistakes, slight errors, they capitalized on it very quickly (and) put the ball at the back of the net. At this level, you can’t afford to make those mistakes.
“At halftime, I said to the boys ‘Are we creating chances? Yes!’, ‘Are we getting possession of the ball? Yes!’, ‘Can we score goals? Yes!’… But you have to put them into practice. There are certain aspects (of the game) that I was pleased with. We still tried to play our football. It wasn’t the case where we’re 4-0, 5-0 behind, we’ll just try to play long balls. We still tried to play football.”
The challenge of competing in the upper echelons of the Asian game does not get any easier for United City as it shall face current J1 League champions Kawasaki Frontale, which also enjoyed a 7-0 win of its own at Beijing Guoan’s expense.
With only a two-day interval before every match, players need to step up quickly for the team to salvage its season.
“Sometimes it might be a question of throwing people in the deep end,” said Withe. “If you don’t test yourself against the best, you’ll never know. I’m a firm believer in giving people the opportunity.
“So I said to the squad today, ‘You’re not here for the ride. You’re not here for a holiday. You will be called upon, so be ready.’”
