NEIL Etheridge helped Buriram United reach a milestone by advancing to the 2024-25 AFC Champions League (ACL) Elite quarterfinals after beating Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim, 1-0, in the second and final leg of the round-of-16 last Tuesday in Johor Baru.
The Filipino goalkeeper kept a clean sheet for the Thailand club in the two-leg round-of-16 matches with Suphanat Mueanta scoring the fixture's lone goal in the 58th minute during the second leg on the road.
READ Neil Etheridge now closer to PH after signing with Thailand's Buriram United
With the victory, Buriram United earned the distinction as the first Southeast Asian club to march on in Asia's premier club competition under its current iteration where the Elite competition was reduced from 40 to 24 teams starting this season.
Aside from Etheridge, Buriram United has another Filipino player in Jefferson Tabinas.
The former national goalkeeper said just the two Southeast Asian teams reaching the round-of-16 of the Champions League is a massive development not just for the region but for Philippine football as well.
“To play in the last 16, home-and-away, to be honest, I don’t think anyone saw that coming,” said the 35-year-old in an interview on Thursday with a handful of Filipino reporters. “It’s a humongous game and I think the attendance showed, the amount of publicity in that game created throughout Southeast Asia was phenomenal.”
“You’ve got some of the best players from the Southeast Asian region, from Thailand, from Malaysia. Obviously, you’ve got myself and Jeff Tabinas in the Philippines. You’ve got some fantastic players there on display. And for us to come out victorious over two legs, and now go to the quarterfinals of the Champions League is a massive achievement for both myself and the club,” said Etheridge.
Possible match-up with Cristiano Ronaldo
A draw is set to be held on Monday to determine the pairings in the ACL Elite quarterfinals. Also advancing were Japan’s Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale, Korea’s Gwangju, Qatar’s Al-Sadd, and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, and Al-Nassr, the club of global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Etheridge looks forward to the opportunity of playing against Ronaldo, who has seven goals in this season’s Champions League, and other top-level world players.
“It’s a humongous competition,” said the former Philippine internationalist. “So whoever we get, we know it’s going to be tough. Three games held in Saudi Arabia – the quarters, the semis, and the final. But we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great experience. We know that we’ve achieved so much already. We obviously want to get even further into the competition. But some of the budgets that these Middle Eastern teams have is humongous and far greater than ours.”
“Why would you not?” said Etheridge on the looming possibility of facing the club of the 40-year-old Portuguese striker. “Any of those teams we face, they’ve got some big, big players, experienced players, players that have gone to World Cups.”
“Ronaldo speaks for himself. Even at his age he is still scoring goals, he scored I think two goals or one goal in the last game of the Champions League. It’s going to be an experience, a fantastic experience and we're looking forward to it,” said the former English Premier League campaigner.
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