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Persema Malang will bank on a European touch to improve its achievement in next season’s Indonesian Super League.

After finishing in 10th place while watching city rival Arema Malang win the league, Persema moved quickly and appointed German coach Timo Scheunemann to lead the club next season.

Scheunemann, the first German to lead an Indonesian top-flight club, will replace Aji Santoso. Aji was in charge for three months after replacing Subangkit.

“We’ve reached a deal with Timo and now we’re preparing all the administrative papers to make it official,” Persema assistant manager Asmuri told state-run news agency Antara. “He’s still in Germany right now and will sign the contract after coming back to Malang.”

While Scheunemann has not coached an Indonesian club, he has a wealth of experience in domestic football. The 37-year-old has been a trainer at the Malang Football Club Academy since 2000, the Indonesian women’s national team coach in 2008 and a technical adviser to First Division club Persikoba Kota Balu since 2007.

Asmuri said the German, who earned his coaching A license from UEFA after taking a course with the German Football Association (DFB) in 2007, will improve the club with his knowledge of modern football.

“I’ve agreed to coach Persema and it will be a challenging new experience for me,” Scheunemann told the Jakarta Globe in an e-mail. “I’m not going to talk a lot about what I could achieve with the club, but I’ll work to make Persema better next season.

“I’m well educated in football, especially after taking courses in the DFB, and I’ll implement that knowledge at Persema so the club will have modern coaching methods and tactical approaches.”

Scheunemann is also the chief talent scout for the Indonesian Football Association’s National Team Body (BTN), but he said he would resign from that post as soon as he is back in the country.

“I’ll help BTN occassionally if they need me to scout for talent or national team opponents, but my main focus is Persema,” he said.

Though he has yet to sign, Persema management has asked Scheunemann to approach potential signings as soon as possible.

He said his main target is strikers. Persema scored 43 goals last season, led by Brazilian striker Jairon Feliciano with eight goals.

PSPS Pekanbaru’s Cameroonian forward Herman Dzumafo Epandi and Bontang FC’s Japanese striker Kenji Adachihara are reportedly on top of Scheunemann’s list, as is Saktiawan Sinaga of Persik Kediri.

Scheunemann also said he would try to recruit 20-year-old Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan, who is of Indonesian descent. The midfielder currently plays in Germany with FC 07 Heidelsheim.


Antara, JG