Indonesia is not a country that has a strong football team or competitive league. However, this country loves football. In Indonesia, there are millions of football fans of all ages. Every time there is a big tournament such as the World Cup, Euro Cup or Champions League final, the tournament's atmosphere could surely be felt all over this country. The TV would broadcast the football matches all day and people would talk about their favorite teams and players.
In this article, I would invite you to read more about Indonesian national soccer team. Although this country has never been won any prestigious titles, not even in Asian level, there are a lot of interesting stories about its best players.
15. Ponaryo Astaman
Ponaryo Astaman started his debut in Indonesian national team in the year 2003. Until now, Ponaryo has played in 62 matches for the national team. The record makes Ponaryo become the second player with the most numbers of appearances of all time in Indonesia. This player is known as a very tough defensive midfielder, he has a high work-rate, and he does not hesitate to play rough. One of Ponaryo's best individual achievement is when he was elected as the best player of Indonesian League in 2004.
14. Evan Dimas
Maybe it is too early to name Evan Dimas as one of Indonesia's best football players of all time. This young midfielder has not even played for the senior national team. But in my opinion, Evan Dimas is a very important figure who led the U-19 national team won the AFF Cup U-19 in 2013. Evan managed to restore confidence and revive the optimism of the people in Indonesia towards their national football team in the midst of hopelessness after seeing the poor performances from the senior team. Hopefully someday Dimas Evan would be able to continue his achievements and restore Indonesia's reputation as one of the strongest football nations in Asia.
13. Robby Darwis
Robby Darwis is a former tough defender who helped Indonesia win the SEA Games gold medal twice in 1987 and 1991. He played for the Indonesian national team for ten years, from 1987 to 1997, scoring six goals in 53 appearances. Not only in the national team, Darwis is also known as one of the best Persib Bandung player, where he once played for the club for 17 years. This player ended his career as a professional footballer in the 2000-2001 season with Kelantan FA, a Malaysian League club.
12. Aji Santoso
Until now, there hasn't been any other Indonesian left-back who could play as good as Aji Santoso. This player was not only good in strengthening the defense line, but also very determined in helping the team's offense. During his prime-time, Aji often created dangerous crossing passes from the left side of the field. Not only that, this player is also known to have very good leadership quality, where he was trusted to be the captain of the national team from 1998 to 2000. Throughout his career, Aji Santoso played 41 times and scored six goals for the Indonesian national team.
11. Bima Sakti
The most memorable feature from Bima Sakti Tukiman is of course his strong shooting power that often led to goals. Bima Sakti is a central midfielder who was one of the most important part of Indonesian team. He made his debut in 1994 with PKT Bontang and joined with the PSSI Primavera to undergo a trial period in a Swedish club, Helsingborgs. Together with the Indonesian national team, the Bima Sakti played 56 times and scored 11 goals.
10. Widodo Cahyono Putro
With a record of 15 goals, Widodo Cahyono Putro currently occupies sixth position of Indonesian national team top scorer of all time. One of the most memorable moments of Widodo is his beautiful goal that he scored against Kuwait in Asian Cup 1996. Not only that, Widodo was also included in the Indonesiad squad that won the SEA Games gold medal in 1991. Currently, Widodo served as a coach assistant for the national team.
9. Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto
Kurniawan played for Indonesian national team from 1995 to 2005. The striker is known to be very sharp and dangerous, even once signed by Sampdoria Primavera and FC Luzern, one of the strongest clubs in the Swiss League. Unfortunately, his performance declined quite dramatically since he was involved in drug-addiction cases in the late 90s. After winning the league title with PSM Makassar in 2000, Kurniawan seems lost his goal scoring instincts and failed to find his best forms.
8. Boaz Solossa
The player who was born in Papua is probably one of the most prolific Indonesian strikers in the league competition. Although he hasn't won any prestigious trophies in the national team level, Boaz has won many achievements with his club, Persipura Jayapura. Out of his 173 appearances for Persipura, Boaz scored 123 goals. He also presented three ISL League titles and three times became the top scorer of the competition. If only he weren't hampered by his prolonged injury, Boaz has a big chance to become Indonesia's top scorer of all time, both at club and international level.
7. Anjas Asmara
Anjas Asmara is one of the greatest Indonesian players in the 1970s period. He often scored important goals and created beautiful assists. Anjas Asmara also made Indonesia become one of the strongest football teams in Asia at the time. He almost took Indonesia into the 1976 Olympics competition. Unfortunately his team lost to North Korea in the final qualifying round.
6. Ronny Pattinasarany
Ronny Pattinasarany is one of the best playmakers ever to play for Indonesian national team. He played from 1973 to 1981. At club level, Rony was part of PSM Makassar squads for ten years before retiring in 1982 as Warna Agung's player. His performance was amazing. He is known as a very visionary midfielder who becomes the leader of the team's offense. Ronny's best achievements as a player was when he won two silver medal in the SEA Games tournament for Indonesian national team.
5. Ronny Pasla
Ronny Pasla should be proud because he is one of the few goalkeepers in the world who could save the penalty kick of the best football players of all time, Pele. He did that achievement in a friendly match in 1972 between Indonesia versus Brazil. Ronny is known as a tall goalkeeper who became the first-time choice Indonesian national team from the 1960s until the early 1970s. Because of his prowess, this player also acquired various nicknames, such as "The Raven" and "The Leopard."
4. Ricky Yakobi
Ricky Yakobi is a retired Indonesian national team striker who played in the 1980s. As he was famous for his very fast running speed, Ricky was dubbed as the "Paul Breitner of Indonesia." The best tournament that he ever played was in the Asian Games 1986, where Ricky scored a long-range volley goal in a match against United Arab Emirates. This player also contributed great role in bringing Indonesia win a gold medal in the SEA Games 1987. At the end of his career, Ricky played for a Japanese League club, Matsushita.
3. Hendro Kartiko
Hendro Kartiko Indonesia is one of the best Indonesian goalkeepers of all time. Not only in the country, his ability is also recognized internationally. Hendro Kartiko's best individual achievements was when he was selected as the best goalkeeper in Asian Cup 2000. Throughout his career, Hendro also played for a lot of elite clubs in Indonesian League, such as PSM Makassar, Persebaya, Persija, Arema Malang, and Sriwijaya FC.
2. Bambang Pamungkas
Talking about stats and records, it seems very appropriate to place Bambang Pamungkas at the upper ranking of the best Indonesian football players of all time. Until now, Bambang holds the record for the most numbers of appearances (78 appearances) and most goal scored for Indonesia national team (36 goals). This striker also had quite a successful career abroad, where he led a Malaysian club, Selangor FA, win treble winners in 2005. In the same year, he also became the top scorer in the Malaysian League.
1. Soetjipto Soentoro
If we count the statistics of non-official matches, then Soetjipto Soentoro is the player who holds the record as the Indonesian national team top scorer of all time. This player played in the period 1964-1971, where he scored 57 goals in 68 appearances with the Indonesian team. One of the most memorable performances of Soetjipto was when he scored a hat trick in a friendly match against Werder Bremen in Germany. Soetjipto spent his entire career with one club Persija Jakarta, and was included in the All-Star Asian team in the 1967-1968 season.
