Renaissance Of Indoesian Football

JAKARTA – Impressing at the AFC Asian Cup and improving their prospects to a lucrative move abroad may be the motivation for some players to perform at this summer’s continental championship, but for Bambang Pamungkas that’s not his primary concern.

Because, while the 27-year-old Persija Jakarta forward is no stranger to foreign climes, success for his beloved Indonesia in front of the nation’s fanatical support is utmost in his mind.

“Everybody wants to play in the Asian Cup, it’s a big competition like the World Cup or the European Championships,” he said. “Hopefully we can be seen by other clubs and have a chance to go elsewhere.

“But that’s secondary for me because we are playing at home and I want the people to be happy with the team. Indonesia’s a big country and we’ve reached the final of competitions like the Tiger Cup, but we’ve never been champions.



“So we want to deliver something for the team and the people.”

Unlike many of his compatriots, Bambang has tasted footballing life outside Indonesia, having just returned this year to the Liga Indonesia after a two-year spell with Malaysian side Selangor.

During his time with the Malaysian giants, Bambang tasted the highs and lows. In 2005, he finished the season as the league’s top scorer with a sensational 39 goals in all competitions – including 24 in 24 league games - as Selangor won the league, the FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup.

Twelve injury-hit months later it was a different story, as Selangor narrowly avoided relegation and Bambang and the rest of the club’s foreign contingent were cut from the squad.

As a result, he’s back in Indonesia with Malaysian league rules prohibiting foreign players moving directly from one domestic club to another forcing the forward to return to his first club, Persija Jakarta.

“In the first season everything was incredible, we won everything,” he said. “We played 42 games and we lost only one game and we drew two others. We won the treble but in the second season many players were injured and things didn’t go so well, but that’s football.

“Anything can happen in football. Sometimes you can play well and other days you can play badly but you have to be professional.

“For me, Selangor is a big club and everyone in Malaysia watches Selangor and the pressure is always there and I love to play for a club like that. Every time you have pressure you have the motivation to do more.

“That’s the challenge for me and if I had joined a smaller club first then the pressure, for me, would not have been enough. I want to build up my career and improve my game. If you have a big target then the pressure is there.”

Bambang believes the Liga Indonesia – which features 36 clubs split into eastern and western divisions - could learn a lot from their Malaysian counterparts, and those lessons need to be heeded if football in the archipelago is to improve.

“In Malaysia the league is better than here but the talent of the players here is possibly better,” he said. “They have only a few clubs and here there are 36 clubs. You play every weekend while here you play on the weekends but also on the weekdays too so you feel very tired because you always give everything, plus you also have to travel so much - maybe two-and-a-half hours flying.

“You only play on the weekdays during the FA Cup in Malaysia. I was there for two years and I learned a lot and I improved.

“It’s becoming more professional here, but it’s happening very slowly. You can’t have a very good league with 36 clubs. It’s very difficult.

“Hopefully next season they’ll reduce the number of clubs to 18 or even 16. It would be very good because there are too many games. There is only a small gap between the games and so you can only play at 60 percent of your condition so it’s difficult for the players.

“But hopefully we can play only at the weekends and the league will be better. And if you have a better league of course the national team will improve.”

Malaysia, though, was not Bambang’s only overseas experience. After trials with several clubs in Europe, the diminutive striker spent one season at Dutch third division side Norad before returning home.

And while his time in Europe was short-lived, he still feels he benefited greatly from a period in a more professional environment.

“To play in Europe you have to be professional in everything, right from when you wake up,” he said. “You stay in your own home and you have to do everything on your own.

“In Europe you have to know what time you have to go to training, you have to know what time you eat and everything and that is something that players here are not used to because they stay in the team’s quarters, so somebody will wake you up in the morning.

“Here, you don’t have to think. But from my time in Europe I know what it is to be professional.”

As a result, Bambang has his eyes set on another move overseas, although not before making an impact at the Asian Cup with Indonesia.

“Last year I wanted to stay in Malaysia but the rules say that if I want to change club I have to be outside for one year, which is why I’m back with Persija now,” he said. “So maybe I’ll go back there or maybe I’ll play in another country.

“Now I’m happy to be here because I came back to the team where I was playing before and I know everyone at the club and I’m comfortable, I’m happy to be at home.

“But for me, it’s more interesting to play outside because you can play in another atmosphere, another league and get a different experience.

“In Indonesia the atmosphere from the supporters is different than in other countries. Here, the people are crazy about football so there’s a lot of pressure but the league here, the referees and the rules, are not as good as in Malaysia. So maybe after one year here I can go back to Malaysia.”