PS TNI

Indonesian Army Football Team^[1]

Full name	Persatuan Sepak Bola Tentara Nasional Indonesia
Short name	PS TNI
Founded	2015, as PS TNI
Stadium	Pakansari Stadium
Manager	Judan Ali
Coach	Suharto AD
League	Indonesia Soccer Championship A

PS TNI is a professional football club. It was founded in 2015 during the 2015 General Sudirman Cup. The manager of the club is Judan Ali^[2] PS TNI was created as a merger of PSMS Medan and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Indonesian: Tentara Nasional Indonesia, often abbreviated as TNI) to compete in the Jenderal Sudirman Cup,^[3] but are now independent as PSMS Medan announced their split in March 2016. The club competes in the Indonesia Soccer Championship A.

History

Formation and Jenderal Sudirman Cup

As a result of the conflict between the PSSI and the Indonesia Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs, FIFA then froze the membership of the PSSI, resulting in the suspension of the Indonesian Football Association. Tournaments were made to replace the Indonesia Super League. The Jenderal Sudirman Cup (Indonesian: Piala Jenderal Sudirman, also known as Jenderal Sudirman Cup Indonesian Championship Torabika 2015 for sponsorship reasons) was made to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Indonesian Armed Forces, and would be held in November 2015 until January 2016 with fifteen clubs participating. PSMS Medan agreed to represent the PS TNI name for the tournament, as well as recruiting players who were also in the army such as Manahati Lestusen and Abduh Lestaluhu. PS TNI was the only non-ISL club to participate in the Jenderal Sudirman Cup.

In the Jenderal Sudirman Cup, PS TNI was seeded in Group C and would play all four matches in Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo. Along with four other clubs are Surabaya United, Pusamania Borneo F.C., Persib Bandung, and Persela Lamongan. The club came out as underdogs in the group stage, winning all four games and grabbing 11 points. They beat Surabaya United 2-1, won 6-5 on penalties against Pusamania Borneo after a 2-2 draw, won 4-2 against Persela Lamongan including a hat-trick from Dimas Drajat, and a 2-0 win against Persib Bandung. PS TNI then qualified for the Quarter-finals, where they were joined by Semen Padang F.C., Mitra Kukar F.C., and Persija Jakarta. They lost all three matches and was out of the competition.

Split and Bhayangkara Cup

After the Jenderal Sudirman Cup, it was announced that the club and PSMS Medan had split their ways,^[4] with a few of PSMS Medan's players joining the Armed Forces club instead. They targeted England Coach Judan Ali to be their manager and technical director with a view for Coach Ali agreeing to become their Head Coach subject to contractual conditions. ^[2] They then qualified for another tournament, the Bhayangkara Cup 2016 (Indonesian: Piala Bhayangkara, also known as Torabika Bhayangkara Cup 2016 for sponsorship reasons) with nine other teams to commemorate "Bhayangkara Day". The tournament was held from 17 March until 3 April in 2016. Divided into two groups of five, PS TNI was slotted in Group A with Sriwijaya FC, Mitra Kukar F.C., Pusamania Borneo F.C., and Persib Bandung. They lost their first match, losing 1-2 against Sriwijaya FC, but then followed with a 3-1 win against Pusamania Borneo. PS TNI didn't do as well as they were in the Jenderal Sudirman Cup, winning only one out of four games and losing two. They finished third in Group A with five points, but did not qualify for the Semifinals.

Indonesia Soccer Championship A

In April 2016, the Indonesia Soccer Championship was officially launched. It was established to replace the temporarily-suspended Indonesia Super League. While PS TNI and other 17 clubs of the ISL would join the top division, the Indonesia Soccer Championship A, another 59 teams–including PS TNI's former merger PSMS Medan–would participate in the Indonesia Soccer Championship B. PS TNI would play their home games at Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung. Their first match of the 2016 Indonesia Soccer Championship A season was a 2-1 loss at home to Madura United.^[5]

First Team Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Ponda Dwi Saputra 3 DF Wiganda Pradika 4 DF Hendri Aprilianto 5 DF Syaiful Ramadhan 7 FW Dimas Drajad 10 MF Guntur Triaji 11 FW Frets Listanto 12 MF Erwin Ramdani 15 GK Teguh Amiruddin 16 MF Tri Hardiansyah 17 DF Abduh Lestaluhu 18 GK Dhika Bayangkara 19 FW Aldino Herdianto

No. Position Player 21 MF Irfandy Zein 22 FW Tambun Dibty Naibaho 23 MF Wawan Febrianto 24 MF Legimin Raharjo (Captain) 26 DF Wanda Syahputra 29 MF Suhandi 45 DF Gitra Yuda 55 MF Manahati Lestusen 66 DF Ganjar Mukti 69 DF Hardiantono 94 MF Iman Faturohman 95 GK Ravi Murdianto 99 FW Pandi Lestaluhu (on loan from Persija Jakarta)

Reference(s)