Ken Murayama tows Cebu Football Club to first win in AFC

Photo caption: Joshua Schirmer (left) and Ken Murayama (right) during the AFC Cup presser. | Photo from CFC

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Ken Murayama delivered Cebu Football Club’s (CFC) historic first goal in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup on Thursday evening, October 27, 2023, in a win against Myanmar’s Shan United FC, 1-0, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.

Murayama slipped past Shan United’s defenders on the left side, giving him an easy look to slide the ball at the back of the net at the 29th minute. 

“I made history for the team and I’m so happy and I appreciate the fans, and the crowd,” said Murayama during the post-match press conference.

READ MORE: Cebu Football Club optimistic of grabbing first AFC win

In fact, the ball even hit the foot of Shan’s goalkeeper, but ultimately bounced inside the goal, as Cebu FC picked their first win under Group F. 

Also, it was a fitting comeback for the Gentle Giants after losing to the Davao Aguilas-University of Makati, 0-1, last Sunday in the Copa Paulino Alcantara’s semifinals. 

For CFC’s head coach, Joshua Schirmer, it was all about how his players responded to their recent defeat that made huge difference during last night’s match.

“The biggest thing for me was the response from the players. After the Davao match, we were all disappointed the way that went, but I felt the players really stepped up their level and got the top result for this whole team at a time that we needed that result,” said Schirmer during the post-match presser. 

“It was time to show that we can actually play and I think the players reacted really well and put in a good performance, could have been better but it is good enough.”

Schirmer added that their ultimate goal was to win the match, despite only scoring one goal. 

“Obviously the objective was to win the game and we did that so I’m happy about that, of course we had some more chances to score more goals and we probably should have scored more goals, but it’s just a relief to have that final whistle with the 3 points on hand,” he added.

In terms of offense, both clubs nearly had identical attempts with CFC having nine shots, while Shan with eight and both only had one shot on target. 

They will try to even up with the Aguilas on November 3 in the second leg of the Copa Paulino Alcantara’s semifinals. They then head to Yangon, Myanmar on November 5 in their rematch against Shan United FC in the AFC Cup. 

/bmjo