The Story of How Persebaya Defender Really Loves His Dad

DBasia.news – Despite the coaches or senior players who taught him the football, M. Irvan Febrianto chose his dad, Salim, to be the superhero of his football career. For Irvan, Salim isn’t just an ordinary father.

Similar to Ambon, Irvan’s nickname, Salim also playing in football. But his career is just for the local area. Salim has once joined the internal competition of Persebaya Surabaya. He supported one of the strong clubs in Surabaya, Indonesia Muda.

Realizing that his career won’t develop, Salim put the expectation to Irvan Febrianto. “Dad was the first person who brought me about football. He was also the first person who taught me,” the Persebaya left-back said.

To develop his son’s football knowledge, Salim sent the young Irvan to SSB Indonesia Muda. As the alumnus, Salim believed Irvan would develop as a great player with his childhood club.

As expected, after the success with Indonesia Muda, Irvan developed. He was officially in contract with Persebaya Surabaya for the 2017 Liga 2. Irvan was one of the key players of Persebaya’s victory in Liga 2, also promoted to the 2018 Liga 1.

Unfortunately, he seems to get no place nowadays. Irvan failed to compete with the senior Ruben Sanadi. However, he doesn’t have the intention to leave Persebaya at all. Irvan promised to work harder and steals his position from the former Persipura Jayapura defender.

Irvan believed, joining Persebaya isn’t just about becoming an ordinary professional footballer. “Who doesn’t want to join Persebaya? For Arek Suroboyo, joining Persebaya is the greatest achievement,” the Kenjeran player said.

Though became Persebaya player, Irvan won’t forget what his Dad did for him. The future success of Matt Halil in Persebaya had many great moments with his dad.

“The unforgettable one was when I see my dad happy when I won a tournament,” he revealed.

Besides expecting his dad to see his success with Green Force, Irvan also has a dream to bring his dad to Spain, witnessing Real Madrid’s match at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

“If I want to build the SSB with my dad, it would be difficult as he didn’t have the coaching knowledge. I have one expectation, to watch Real Madrid live with my dad because he is Madrid’s fans,” he hoped.