Persija vs Brisbane Roar: STY Reunites with His Former Club, Jordi Amat Meets Valkanis

Jakarta - Persija Jakarta's international friendly match against Brisbane Roar will be hosted at the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS), North Jakarta, on Saturday 29 August at 20.00 WIB. Beyond serving as a warm-up fixture ahead of the new season, this encounter between the two sides will also mark reunion moments for both Shin Tae-yong and Jordi Amat.

For Shin Tae-yong, Brisbane Roar holds a special place in his professional journey. This Australian club was the final team he represented as an active professional player before ending his playing career in 2005.

After retiring as a player, Brisbane Roar also became the very first club Shin joined at the start of his coaching career, where he worked as an assistant coach for three full years.

For this reason, the upcoming Persija vs Brisbane Roar match at JIS will give Shin the chance to face off once more against the club that formed a pivotal part of both major phases of his career: as a player, and as a coach.

Shin Tae-yong Reunites With Nam Tae-hee

Shin's reunions at this fixture do not end with the club itself. He will also go up against attacking midfielder Nam Tae-hee, who currently plays for Brisbane Roar. Tae-hee previously played under Shin's management for the South Korean national men's Football team.

Per Transfermarkt records, Tae-hee made 3 senior national team appearances under Shin, spanning both Shin's interim coaching tenure in August-September 2014 and his permanent head coach term from July 2017 to July 2018.

"As a Korean athlete competing overseas, just as coach Shin Tae-yong once did, I feel an obligation to conduct my career by setting a good example, while carrying the name and honour of being Korean," the 35-year old player stated during the pre-match press conference held at JIS on Friday.

With this shared history, the face-off between Shin and Tae-hee will become one of the most compelling side stories of the Persija vs Brisbane Roar fixture.

Jordi Amat Meets Michael Valkanis

From Persija's camp, Jordi Amat will also experience his own reunion, as he comes up against Michael Valkanis - his former coach at Belgian top flight side KAS Eupen.

The 34-year old centre back spent three complete seasons at KAS Eupen, recording 86 competitive appearances with 2 goals and 2 assists over that period.

Valkanis first joined KAS Eupen as assistant coach in January 2022. Only one month later he was promoted to head coach, holding the position for four months.

Valkanis expressed his delight at being able to meet Jordi again, recalling the defender as one of the most important players in the squad he managed at the club.

According to Valkanis, Jordi is not just a physically dominant defensive centre back, but also possesses polished ability to initiate and build attacking plays from the backline.

"I remember very clearly when he left the club at the end of the season to move to Indonesia. We spoke at the time. I knew about his Spanish upbringing, but also his Indonesian heritage, and that this was where he truly wanted to go, to represent the national team here," stated the Greek-Australian coach.

Even though this is only an exhibition friendly, Valkanis confirmed he has been eagerly anticipating this reunion with Jordi Amat.

"I actually messaged him as soon as I found out we would be travelling here. I told him 'Hey, I can't wait to meet you and catch up properly again'. It was always a genuine pleasure working with a player of Jordi Amat's calibre," he concluded.