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Churchill Brothers start their AFC Cup 2014 campaign with an away clash against Persipura Jayapura on Tuesday. Sportskeeda profiles the Indonesian domestic champions.
History
Although formed in 1963, Persipura Jayapura only came into the limelight during the 21st century with their first-ever top flight title coming in 2005. That was their only success in the old Liga Indonesia Premier Division, which was later replaced by the Indonesia Super League (ISL). Persipura Jayapura have been the most successful club though in ISL history, winning three of the five completed seasons so far and finishing in the top three in every edition. They have also been runners-up in Indonesia’s FA Cup, Piala Indonesia thrice. They have nicknames such as ‘The Black Pearl’ and ‘The Papua Eagle’ with the home kit inspired by that of AC Milan. Their home stadium, the Mandala Stadium, can hold up to 30,000.
Persipura qualified for the group stage of the AFC Champions League in 2006 but eventually didn’t participate as they failed to register players on time. They finally made their Champions League debut in 2010 but bowed out from the group stage after losing five of their six matches. Persipura have featured in the AFC Cup only once in the past back in 2011. They were drawn in the same group as East Bengal in that edition and finished second to qualify for the round of 16. Persipura defeated East Bengal 4-1 on home soil and were held 1-1 in Kolkata. They thrashed Vietnam’s Song Lam Nghe An 3-0 to become the first Indonesian club to reach the AFC Cup last eight but were beaten 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals by Iraq’s Arbil SC.
Current Team
Persipura Jayapura have enjoyed their best years under Jacksen Ferreira Tiago
Brazilian Jacksen Ferreira Tiago has been the head coach since 2008 and the club have enjoyed the best phase of their history under him. Persipura convincingly won the 2013 title, their third under Tiago, as they finished 16 points ahead of second placed Arema Cronus. Last season the ISL had 18 teams but there are 22 participants (divided into two zones of 11 each) this time as the league has been merged with the IPL (Indonesia Premier League). After finishing last season’s campaign in September, Persipura started preparations for the new season in January. ISL 2014 started in February and Persipura have already played five games, winning two and drawing the other three. They are currently second in the table and will be aiming to successfully retain the league title for the very first time.
Persipura have kept almost the same squad that comfortably won their third title in five seasons last year with the two big signings being Indonesia international Titus Bonai who joined them from Semen Padang and Liberian striker Boakay Eddie Foday who played for Sriwijaya last season. Their other three foreigners are South Korean goalkeeper Yoo Jae-Hoon, South Korean central midfielder Lim Joon-Sik and Cameroon central defender Bio Paulin who has been at the club since 2007. Persipura will be expected to go through from this group but it will be only their sixth competitive match of this season so they will be happy to be playing at home, where they haven’t lost a competitive game for almost two years now.
Key Players
Bio Paulin
The 29-year-old centre half from Cameroon has been an integral part of Persipura’s success in recent years. Paulin would have to be at his very best to stop Churchill Brothers’ in-form attack comprising Balwant Singh and Anthony Wolfe.
Ian Kabes
The 27-year-old winger is expected to play on the left flank and thus would be aiming to capitalise on the absence of Churchill’s Denzil Franco. Kabes comes into this game in great form, having netted three times in the domestic league already.
Boaz Solossa
The club captain is the all-time highest scorer in the history of both Persipura Jayapura and the ISL. He missed the start of the season due to injury but the 27-year-old forward made a substitute appearance against Persiba Balikpapan last Thursday and thus is in contention to feature against Churchill.
