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Thursday, February 19, 2009

 

Long live the Prince

The arrival of Prince Kabir Bello at Persitara has turned around the fortunes of a side that were good for a laugh but were far from serious players where it mattered; on the pitch.

Last time out at home to Deltras, Persitara bordered on tepid. Yesterday, with Prince returning after suspension, there were moments when the North Jakarta side looked mesmerizing. Only moments mind, but oh, the potential!

Fielding possibly the most attack minded line up in the ISL at the moment, coach Buitelaar went with John Tarkpor and Essiah Benson anchoring the midfield with neither naturally defensive minded. On the flanks there were Mostapha Aji and Rahmat Rivai who pushed on while through the centre Prince and defender turned striker Banaken.

It took Rahmat and Mostapha time to get used to their new roles despite the fact that the home side were two up before we had reached the half hour mark but if the coaching staff are brave enough to give this formation time then we could be seeing the new entertainers.

Two goals from Prince yesterday made it four in three ISL games to go with his two yellows and one suspension. The man signed from Sepahan in Iran has certainly had an impact in his short time here.

That impact could have been greater had not his outrageous scissors kick not rebounded off the cross bar.

If only the Prince was Indonesian!

Before the game I was with Persija coach Danurwindo and among other things we discussed his own signing of Fabio Lopes as well as the likelihood of seeing Sergio van Dijk in an Indonesian shirt. He asked me what I thought of Prince but like him I hadn’t seen him. After the game we both were purring.

The lad, he’s about 22, is an old school centre forward. A battering ram but with a touch of finesse. Good on the ground and in the air, he has that selfish touch in and around the box that all good strikers need. Fine when he’s scoring, perhaps he won’t be so popular when he goes through a barren spell but this guy oozes confidence.

His work rate also impressed with him helping out the defence when needed leaving Banaken up top alone.

Persitara are now 12th on 19 points. This was only their 4h win of the season but with two more home games on the horizon, Persiba on 22nd and PKT on 25th, they have the perfect opportunity to put more distance between themselves and the other cellar dwellers beneath them.

And expect to be hearing a lot more about the Prince of North Jakarta

Comments:
What did Danurwindo have to say about Van Dijk?

From what I've read, his making the switch doesn't seem too feasible.
 
without an indonesian passport its dead in the water...
 
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