Andik Vermansyah

Andik Vermansyah^[1] (born 23 November 1991 in Jember, East Java) is an Indonesian footballer, who currently plays for Selangor in the Malaysia Super League.^[2] The winger is considered one of the greatest talents in football in Indonesia. He is considered as one of ten Asian players to watch in 2012 by ESPN Soccernet.^[3] He is nicknamed as The Leo Messi of Indonesia.

Early life

Andik was born in Jember, East Java, to Saman, a coolie, and Jumiah, a tailor, both indigenous Javanese. He spent his childhood selling ice as a means of earning money for his family. His parents, earning barely enough money for living expenditures, had little fund to help Andik realise his dream as a footballer. At first Andik was not allowed to pursue his footballing career due to his family's economic condition. However, a strongly motivated Andik did not gave up on his dream of becoming a professional footballer. He did everything he could to pursue his dream by all means and to fund his burgeoning career he had to sell cake and ice, even playing football for inter-village tournament, just to be able to buy a pair of football shoes. Andik received his big break when the coach of SSB Suryanaga, Rudi, discovered his talents. Rudi offered Andik to play at a football academy in Jember, free of charge.^[4]

Club career

Early career

Andik started his career with Persebaya (1927) U-18. With Persebaya (1927) U-18, Andik won the East Java Regional Youth League in 2007. And in that year, Andik presented gold medals to the city of Surabaya in the Provincial Sports Week.^[5]

In 2008, Andik had a big role in bringing home the gold medal for East Java at National Sports Week, which was held in Kalimantan.^[5]

Persebaya

Andik joined Persebaya after a successful trial. He succeeded in the trial due to his immense potential and ability. After joining the club, he continued working hard and impressed many with his pace and dribbling ability and eventually broke into Persebaya's first team. And at the age of 17, he was one of the youngest players in the squad at the time. He made his official debut for Persebaya on 29 August 2008, coming on in the 77th minute in a 2-0 victory against Persekabpas Pasuruan.

On October 2011, Serie A Giant Inter Milan was interested in him. On 7 September 2012, Andik joined Major League Soccer side D.C. United on trial and played several times for their reserve team but did not sign a contract with them and eventually returned to Persebaya .^[5]

On 6 October 2013 following a trial in Ventforet Kofu, in his debut he scored a goal in a reserves match against Shimizu S-Pulse. His performance made headlines in Japanese newspapers and impressed the 2,000 supporters in attendance.

Selangor FA

On 1 December 2013, Andik joined Malaysian side Selangor on a two-years contract.^[6] He chose Selangor because they offered him a bigger salary than the salary offered by Ventforet Kofu. His salary ( rumoured $150,000/yr.) would make him one of the best paid Indonesian athletes. Andik helped Selangor FA to become the Runner-Up in the 2014 Malaysian Super League and he's one of the main reason Selangor FA managed to reach that far for the 2014 and 2015 Malaysian Super League Season. Andik also appeared as one of the Malaysian Super League Players who made one of the most assist for the 2014 Malaysian Super League Season before signing a new contract with Selangor FA for the 2015 Malaysian Super League Season to continue help Selangor FA win more cups and achievements for the 2015 Season.

Andik also holds the second fastest goal record in the Malaysia Super League history which the goal is as early as the 28th second during a match against Johor Darul Ta'zim FC.While the fastest goal was scored by Ahmad Fakri Saarani who scored during the 12th second and holds the 6th place in the world's fastest goal record.

Andik has expanded his contract with Selangor FA until 2017 worth 3 billion Rupiah's making him the most paid footballer in Indonesia.^[7]

Career statistics

International career

National team

International goals

International under-21 goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 February 2012	Track & Field Sports Complex, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Laos	0–1	0–2	2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy
2	28 February 2012	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Myanmar	0–1	3–1	2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy
3	4 March 2012	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Philippines	1–0	3-0	2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy
4	4 March 2012	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Philippines	2–0	3-0	2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy
5	7 March 2012	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Vietnam	0–2	0-2	2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy

International under-23 goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 November 2011	Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia	Cambodia	5–0	6–0	2011 Southeast Asian Games
2	21 November 2013	Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia	Laos	2–0	3–0	2013 MNC Cup
3	22 November 2013	Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia	Papua New Guinea	3–0	6–0	2013 MNC Cup

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 November 2012	Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Singapore	1–0	1–0	2012 AFF Championship
2	25 November 2016	Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines	Singapore	1–1	1–2	2016 AFF Championship

Honours

Club honours

Selangor FA

• Malaysia Cup Champion (1): 2015

Country honours

Indonesia U-21

• Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy Runner-up (1): 2012

Indonesia U-23

• Southeast Asian Games Silver Medal (2): 2011, 2013
• Islamic Solidarity Games Silver Medal (1): 2013

References

External links

• Profile at footballmalaysia.com
• Profile at ifball.com
• Andik Vermansyah profile at Soccerway