Submitted by: Confaderal | 24th October 2023
Long ago in the colonial era, Makassar was the port synonymous with the trade from long-distance wooden sail ships. It was already a thriving port when the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, and it remained an important port under Dutch rule in the 17th and 18th centuries. As such, their exposure with the wide world provided them exposure to sports such as football. It culminated with the formation of the football club at such an early time compared to the rest of Indonesia.
Their club was established in 1915 as Makassarche Voetbalbond. Since then, PSM Makassar has always been ever-present since the beginnings of Indonesian football. For a very old club though, the lack of silverware is a concern; a common theme shared with Hougang united.
They share some similar traits to our Hougang United, mainly:
They play their home games at Bali's Kapten Wayan Dipta Stadium this year for the AFC Cup. Similarly, we have adopted the Jalan Besar Stadium this season.
2022 represents a momentous year as PSM won the Liga1 after 23 years. Their last trophy was the Liga1 in 99/00 season. During this time, we have won the Singapore cup, the first trophy in our existence as a club.
After the highs of a cup win, both teams have slumped to normality in the current season.
PSM's head coach Bernardo Tavares is considered newly appointed, same as our head coach, Marko Kraljevic.
As such, with a club similar to us, we will take the time to delve into: 5 things we should know about PSM Makassar (and how we can lose if we don't prepare against it).
PSM's financial woes
Although it is reported, It is not well documented on what financial trouble PSM is in. The financial woes is evident in PSM selling away key players from the 21-22 season. Because of this, PSM went into the market for players who are underused and are from the lower leagues.
The restriction turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the team of mostly young and obscure talents propelled them to the Liga1 title last year in 2022.
This year, they had made more shrewd signings in the foreign player department, bringing in Everton from Brazil, Yuran Fernandes from Cape Verde, and Kenzo Nambu from Japan. These are largely still obscure foreign signings as compared to the likes of Sabah FC in group H. Despite the foreign influx, the team still are in shambles as their talismanic foreigner, Wiljan Pluim just announced leaving the club.
As it stands, PSM is in the lower half of the league though it remains to be seen if they can overachieve like they did last year.
Herein lies the key difference. Conversely, Hougang united boasts a squad that is amongst the most competitive in the Singapore Premier League. We have an abundance of Singapore internationals that have been through lots of battles. And our foreign contingent are of the same level albeit lesser in numbers.
If everyone remains fit and switched-on then we should be able to get a result from this fixture. It is not an impossible task.
Not the best of form
PSM's coach has come out to the media to downplay any hopes of them retaining the title this season. In an interview to the Banjarminpost, he stated that "PSM is not one of the candidates for the title this season as there are many other teams with a bigger budget as compared to us". Could this be a hint that the atmosphere in the club is deteriorating? And is this the reason why PSM has only won one of their last five matches in all competitions?
Perhaps it is still too early to say as they have only played less than half out of the 34 games in the season, but the number of wins doesn't inspire confidence. This is especially because they have lost more this season then when they ended the league as champions last season: losing only 3 matches last season en-route to being champions.
Meanwhile in Hougang, our season has ended with 9 wins in the league. Of the last 5 matches in all competitions, we've managed to win 2 matches. Thank god we've managed to gain a victory against Haiphong and Balestier. Hopefully the momentum will push us to get points from this one. After all, based on our 4-game-win pattern this season, a win against PSM home and away should be on the cards...keyword: 'By right'.
PSM's recent history against Singapore teams
PSM has had it's fair share of battling against Singapore teams - or rather, a Singapore team. In 2020, the AFC cup presented PSM Makassar and Tampines Rovers their first meeting together. Before the competition was cut short due to the covid pandemic, Tampines played PSM at the Jalan Besar stadium. PSM was 12th in the league the previous year and seemed to be in a run of bad form. Conversely, Tampines had only just been the runner-up in the league in that same year.
True to form, a man well-known in the league; Jordan Webb struck the first blow against PSM through some intricate play at the edge of the box. Boris Kopitovic added a second later on with a goal that we always see in the league — one where he turned the defender and dashed towards goal. PSM had a consolation goal a few minutes later but didn't produce enough to win the match. To make matters worse, PSM also got a red card in injury time. All was good in Singapore football and Gavin Lee was hailed as a star young coach.
Caption: PSM coach Bernardo Tavares screaming at the referee for a red.📸 AFC hub youtube page.
Somehow, two years later, the footballing gods decided to reverse the cards. In the AFC cup 2022, the match between these two saw Christopher Van Huizhen recklessly slide tackle the opponent in their half while Tampines was leading. The referee brandished a yellow card at first and then after incessant screaming from PSM's coach for a red card to be shown, the referee relented.
Chris was shown the red card early into the game and PSM took the chance to exact vengeance. PSM had a whopping 8 shots on target. Final score: Tampines 1 PSM 3. Cue the celebrations.
Hougang united will need to keep their cool and tactical shape to subdue this willdhorse PSM side. In a compact 11 v 11 shape, we can prevail against this side. Seldom do our players get into trouble with cards this season and we do hope this continues, especially in this match against PSM. As long as there are 11 players on the field, we can always fight back.
PSM's talented players
Hands up for those who know the game franchise: Devil May Cry? If you know it then you're aware of the two brothers Dante and Virgil who have superpowers. Or better yet, everyone's familiar with the Super Mario Bros, Mario and Luigi as they go on an adventure squashing their adversaries in their path.
PSM have their own video game characters who have superpowers and seemingly squash their adversaries: Yance and Yakob Sayuri.
Both these brothers will be pivotal in PSM's adventure down the flanks, especially when Yakob cuts in as an inverted winger. The speedy brothers will need to be handled delicately by our wingbacks if we are to get joy from the flanks. Let's hope our boys attack more than defending so that the two brothers will spend less time being a threat!
Caption: Pluim celebrating after PSM gets the lead against Tampines Rovers in Kuala Lumpur
last year.📸 AFC hub youtube page.
On the other end, PSM Makassar has just announced the departure of Willem Jan Pluim after seven years with the club. The Makassar talisman came from a very illustrious background with him being the journeyman from clubs such as Vitesse, Roda JC and Willem 2 from the Dutch Eredivisie. The man also stands at 1.91m and would've been head and shoulders above the rest, literally. Figuratively, Pluim has also captained the Makassar side countless times. The Makassar side have loss their bedrock.
...and it is up to our boys to take advantage of the myriad of troubles that PSM is facing. We need to also be wary of PSM wanting to continue their winning momentum from their match against Arema.
Speaking about PSM vs Arema, their mid-season signing has just came to life scoring a brace. Adilson Gancho da Silva, the Portuguese forward who came from Real SC in 3rd tier Portugal will also be one to watch. The man has come from a reputable league and measures at 1.91m — quite troublesome for our full backs.
When it rains, it pours
Flashbacks of the horrible, water-logged pitch conditions caused severe headaches. At least, that was the case for this writer. I had the opportunity to be there at Sabah's Likas stadium on the 21st of September. As we went to the stadium, the rain poured in. The drizzle turned into a heavy downpour where the supporters all had to whip out their ponchos. On the pitch, the hougang players were clearly struggling to make passes and control the ball. Getting used to grass pitches again was one thing, but totally another when it is waterlogged.
Caption: The heavy downpour at Likas Stadium was horrendous for the fans and the players.📸 AFC hub youtube page.
A few days later when we returned to Singapore, I decided to view the match on mewatch. I have to say - the conditions over there was worse in person than through the broadcast.
Judging from the performance from that downpour and also the loss of one Lion City Sailors in the ACL last year in a waterlogged Buriram, I'd be hard pressed to place a bet on Singapore teams to be triumphant on a rainy day. Unlike the Singapore Premier League, matches don't get halted due to bad weather. Luckily for us, weather forecasts from IBM-weather, Accuweather and the BBC have forecasted clear skies in Bali on the 25th.
Nevertheless, once bitten, twice shy. In Hougang's case, it'd be good to have a wet weather plan when playing away in the opposition stadium. A plan not involving playing the ball on the ground, otherwise, it's - advantage -opponents. This time when it happens again, the boys will need to be prepared for it! Hope our players find loopholes to exploit when the weather gets tough!
Closing statement
After PSM's loss to both Haiphong and Sabah by big margins, it's safe to say that PSM was not the same team that came out to play last year. They are in disarray and it's showing on the pitch. They'd want to make things right, just like us before the victory against Haiphong.
That being said, despite PSM winning their last league game, they are the low hanging fruit that is ripe for plucking. Get ready to witness a fight to the death for both teams. Anything less than a win is needed to keep our AFC hopes alive. Can we bring the momentum of the Haiphong and Balestier victory to see this match through?
I sure do hope so...and judging on our 4-game win streak this season, we should be able to pull off wins for home and away against PSM. As long as our boys don't get complacent, be ruthless and take all our chances, there's no reason we should not get a result here. C'mon you hougang boys! #1H1H
"...and it is up to our boys to take advantage of the myriad of troubles that PSM is facing."
PSM Makassar Quick Report:
- 4-4-2 formation preferred
- Dangermen: Dzaky Asraf, Yance Sayuri, Yakob Sayuri, Kenzo Nambu, Everton, Adilson da silva
- Loss of Willem Jan Pluim, their leader and one of the best player
- Financial troubles has caused them to be in disarray. By some miracle, their cost cutting has led them to uncover a good bunch of youngsters and win the league last year, but this year, things are different.
- PSM just snapped their losing streak by winning against Arema on 20th October 2023.
- Kristijan Kracjek and Gabriel should be returning to fitness for this match. The whole Hougang squad will be brimming with confidence after beating Haiphong FC.
- If Nazrul Nazari starts this match, he would've beaten Lau Meng Meng's record for all-time appearance in all competitions for Hougang United! Congratulations Nazrul!
- Despite the forecast of clear skies on matchday, Hougang would do well to prepare against the rain at the Kapten Wayan Dipta stadium.
— Tune in to the "Upcoming" section of our homepage after the matchday to see the latest scores. Or simply follow our 'hougang_hools' instagram page or 'Hougang United FC Supporters Club' on facebook to see video snippets or updates on latest scores.
Who do you think will win?
0%Hougang United
0%PSM Makassar
Did you expect Hougang was going to beat Haiphong previously?
0%Yes!
0%No...
Who do you think will be pivotal against PSM?
0%Kiki Kracjek
0%Djorje Maksimovic
0%Zaiful Nizam
0%Anders Aplin
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