Persipura Jayapura is struggling to return to playing in the highest caste of Indonesian football. Currently, the football club nicknamed Mutiara Hitam is still in the second division of the Indonesian League. Persipura Jayapura coach, Ricardo Salampessy, expects his players to play more enthusiastically to get a promotion ticket. As one of the club’s legends and currently a coach, Ricardo invited several of his colleagues who used to play with him to defend the club that is the pride of the people of Jayapura and even Papua. Several legendary players who are still actively playing and are ready to help the club achieve success again are Boaz Solossa, Tinus Pae, and Ian Louis Kabes. Boaz was even specifically appointed as captain to lead his colleagues to fight in every match to achieve victory.
Entering October, Persipura Jayapura will travel far to East Java. Gresik United, who are based in Tuban, will be the next opponent. In order to prepare the team’s condition to the maximum, the Persipura Jayapura players have arrived earlier than the planned schedule. The coach believes that the players need to adapt to training on the field provided in order to become more familiar with the existing conditions and get a longer rest period before the match takes place. The match between Persipura Jayapura and Gresik United is a match that must be won by the team coached by Ricardo Salampessy because in the previous match, they had to experience defeat. Victory after victory is needed in order to be able to play again in the highest caste of Indonesian football.
The presence of three legends who return to defend Persipura Jayapura, especially Boaz Solossa who was appointed as captain, is expected to increase the fighting spirit of the Persipura Jayapura players. Boaz’s big name certainly makes the young players feel nervous, but with his warm personality and as a leader, Boaz managed to embrace his teammates to unite and fight together. Boaz himself has won several Indonesian League titles in his golden age. At the end of his professional football career, Boaz still wants the best results for the club that has a long history with him.
The hope of Persipura Jayapura fans is that the club will return to playing in the highest caste of Indonesian football and even become champions so that they can represent Indonesia in international competitions such as the Asian Champions League. The club’s impressive achievements in the past are expected to be one of the reasons that can motivate the players in the remaining matches that must be played this season. The possibility of promotion is still wide open so that the coach instructed the players to play with full confidence and focus on achieving victory in every match. The combination of Persipura Jayapura legends with talented young players is also expected to be a good synergy in order to achieve champions.