Pratama Arhan's Journey: Skyrocketing From Blora To South Korea, But Stumbled On Azizah Salsa

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team player, Pratama Arhan, became a hot topic of conversation after his wife, Azizah Salsa, was suspected of having an affair.

The bad news clearly touched on Arhan's career as a footballer. Before this issue broke out, Arhan was known as a talented young player.

The Blora-born footballer has even become one of Shin Tae-yong's mainstay players since he first managed the Indonesian national team in 2019.

Arhan first made his debut in the Red-White Squad when he was 19 years old. Based on Transfermarkt data, until now he is 22 years old, Arhan has made 42 appearances at the senior level of the Indonesian national team.

Prior to his career shining with the Senior National Team, the name Pratama Arhan had also been taken into account when appearing in the Indonesian national team age group.

He became a mainstay that helped the U-22 Indonesian national team win a gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games.

Arhan started his junior career at SSB Putra Mustika (2012'2015), followed by SSB Terang Bangsa (2015'2018), and then joined PSIS Semarang (2018).

At the senior level, he played for PSIS Semarang (2020'2022) with nine appearances. After feeling quite mature, Arhan finally accepted an offer to move to Japan and defend Tokyo Verdy (2022'2024) with two appearances.

Two years into football in Japan, in early 2024, Arhan tried to escape his comfort zone by going further to South Korean club Suwon FC.

Meanwhile, at the international level, Arhan strengthened Indonesia U-19 in 2020 with eight appearances, Indonesia U-22 in 2023 with four appearances, and Indonesia U-23 (2021 2024) with 11 appearances and two goals.

Pratama Arhan has won a number of achievements, including the 2023 SEA Games gold medal, 2020 AFF Cup runners-up, and the 2021 Menpora Cup Best Eleven.

He was also included in the 2020 AFF Cup Team of the Tournament and was named the Best Young Player in the tournament.