Macau Olympic Stadium was host to a significant piece of history on Wednesday when, for the first time, both Macau and Chinese Taipei were represented in the AFC Cup Group Stage.
And it proved to be a memorable debut, for the home side in particular, as coach Bernardo Tavares guided his Benfica de Macau team to 3-2 comeback win after going into halftime two goals down to visitors Hang Yuen FC.
“I want to congratulate my boys, but also the whole team. Everyone worked so hard to prepare to play in the AFC Cup.
“Also for the supporters, it’s not normal to see all these people here – so thank you to everybody!”
The Portuguese tactician admitted that his side had been a bit nervy in the opening 45 minutes but was delighted in the response from his side.
“In the first half, we made some mistakes and the opponents scored, but I felt this didn’t reflect the game as we had plenty of chances – but this is football,” added Tavares.
“I feel our team were a little nervous and they didn’t play their game. We improved so much in the second half though.
“We scored three goals but we could have scored more, and won more than 3-2.”
The next test for Benfica de Macau is, though, sure to prove a difficult one with DPR Korean side Hwaepul SC their hosts on March 14 in Pyongyang.
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