Persib player, Achmad Jufriyanto, is confident that Persik Kediri can rise again when playing against Persebaya Surabaya and help Maung Bandung win League 1.
The former Indonesian National Team defender who is familiarly called Jupe watched the Persik vs Persebaya match with other Pangeran Biru squad players at Graha Persib.
Bojan Hodak’s team can secure the title if Persebaya fails to beat Persik. The match was so tense for Jupe and his friends because Persebaya was superior to Persik until the final minutes.
Persik was only able to equalize in the sixth minute of injury time in the second half. The score of Persik vs Persebaya became 3-3 and Persib became the champion.
“Playing football is not just 70 minutes, 80 minutes, playing football for 90 minutes. We are all sure that Persik Kediri can turn things around or draw, because we only need a draw,” said Jupe.
The player who once played in Malaysia with Kuala Lumpur FA described the noisy atmosphere at Persib’s headquarters when Ramiro Fergonzi scored a goal for Persik and equalized with Persebaya at the end of the match.
“The players were all immediately blown away, no one even continued watching the match,” he explained.
Jupe also praised the Persib players for being able to defend the title after going through a tough season.
“Not all teams in Indonesia can win back to back, we are one of them. It’s tough, to be back to back is very tough, this year we proved it all, fought extraordinarily starting from our pre-season preparation, we were not optimal in the President’s Cup, we had to face the ACL [Asia Champions League],” Jupe explained.
Currently, Persib is at the top of the League 1 standings with 64 points from 31 matches. Meanwhile, Dewa United and Persebaya are in second and third place with 54 points.
Although there are still three weeks of competition left, Persib is definitely the champion. The maximum points that Dewa United and Persebaya can achieve are 63 points or one point behind Persib.
