As the referee blew for full-time at the Gelora Ratu Pamelingan in Pamekasan, a look of happiness and joy washed over the players and staff members of PSM Makassar. Thanks to their 3-1 win over hosts Madura United, the Friday night of March 31st became a historic day for the Juku Eja, for they have won the 2022/23 Liga 1 Indonesia.
Two goals from long-serving captain Wiljan Pluim and a goal from Kenzo Nambu, coupled by Persija Jakarta winning their Indonesian El Clasico clash with Persib Bandung 2-0 at the same time, sealed PSM their second top-flight title, a good 23 years after the Juku Eja‘s first one.
And while the class of 1999/2000 was a star-studded team filled with heavy-hitters such as Hendro Kartiko, Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto, Aji Santoso and Miro Baldo Bento, the class of 2022/23 was filled with a ragtag group of players roped in from the Liga 2, the Liga 3, and PSM’s own academy.
Three of PSM’s foreign players for this season – Everton, Yuran Fernandes, and Kenzo – were newbies to Indonesian football, so was head coach Bernardo Tavares. But remarkably, underneath Tavares’ tutelage, PSM managed to turn their fortunes around from being last season’s relegation battlers to kings of Indonesian football in only one year.
In the build-up for the 2022/23 campaign, PSM were in shambles. The Juku Eja barely sorted out their finances while the demolition of their legendary Andi Mattalatta Stadium meant that PSM had to play their home games some three hours away from Makassar in the city of Parepare, at the Gelora BJ Habibie Stadium.
The club also had to release a number of their key players from the previous campaign – the likes of Sutanto Tan, Hasyim Kipuw, Hilman Syah, Zulkifli Syukur, Saldi Amiruddin, Ilham Udin Armaiyn and Ferdinand Sinaga.
In their place, PSM brought in several players from the lower leagues of Indonesian football – Agung Mannan (Persijap Jepara), Akbar Tanjung (PSIM Yogyakarta), Bryan Cesar (Persiba Balikpapan), to name a few. The Juku Eja also brought in several players who were sparsely used by their Liga 1 rivals – Ramadhan Sananta (Persikabo 1973), Safrudin Tahar (Borneo FC Samarinda), and Barito Putera’s Donald Bissa, who was a naturalized player from the Ivory Coast.
These men were then combined together with PSM’s existing stars – the ever-faithful captain Pluim, Rasyid Bakri, Erwin Gutawa, Muhammad Arfan, Rizky Eka Pratama, and the Sayuri twins Yakob and Yance. The club’s academy also produced several youngsters who would become key men in the Juku Eja‘s 2022/23 campaign – Reza Arya Pratama, who was PSM’s third choice goalkeeper last season, wingers Dzaky Asraf and Victor Dethan, and midfielders Ananda Raehan and Adil Nur Bangsawan, as well as striker Ricky Pratama.
Other than Pluim (the Netherlands), PSM brought in Everton (Brazil), Yuran (Cape Verde), and Kenzo (Japan) as their foreigners for the 2022/23 season, none of whom had played in Indonesia before. Kenzo, in particular, was a constant feature in the Thai League 2 prior to his move to PSM, having turned out for Kasetsart FC, Customs United, Uthai Thani FC, Nakhon Pathom United, and Rayong FC in the second tier of Thai football.
And overseeing the project was Tavares, who was part of the disgraceful HIFK side who were relegated from the 2022 Finnish top flight with only one win to their name in the entire season.
Nothing was expected from this PSM side, however throughout the 2022/23 season the Juku Eja captured the imagination of many, reaching the 2022 AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal final and embarking on a 9-match winning run in the league. PSM only lost two games all season – 1-0 at the hands of Madura United at a neutral venue due to the Kanjuruhan Disaster on December 15th, and a 4-2 loss away at Persija Jakarta on January 25th.
In a league dominated by foreign strikers, PSM’s top scorer was local – Ramadhan had notched 11 goals in the league so far, while the partnership between Yuran and Agung as well as the tenacity of young goalkeeper Reza made PSM the best team in the league defensively. The Juku Eja‘s goal tally this season has been neatly distributed throughout all sectors of Tavares’ team – the aforementioned Ramadhan and Everton shared 19 goals between them, while the attacking midfield sector has contributed 15 goals spread between Pluim, Kenzo, and Yakob. Even the defense joined in the fun too – 11 goals were scored between Yuran, Yance, and Ananda.
PSM’s feat in winning the league this season was made more astonishing by the fact that their nearest rivals – Persib and Persija – has spent considerable amount of money in strengthening their squad during the off-season. That’s right – PSM has won the league with a squad that has a fraction of the value of either the Maung Bandung‘s or the Macan Kemayoran‘s, with the utilization of academy products and lower league players helping to keep down the overall cost of PSM’s squad.
The Buginese people of South Sulawesi upholds their dignity very dearly. Siri Na Pacce was a slogan that means “protecting one’s dignity and staying firm in one’s belief.” PSM’s 14th placed finish in the 2021/22 has brought great shame and embarrassment to the people of Makassar and South Sulawesi, and that spirit of setting right what was once wrong spurs PSM on throughout this season. For the Juku Eja, this season’s Liga 1 title has restored the honor lost from last season’s torrid campaign.
Congratulations, PSM Makassar! Ewako!