Bojan Hodak Talks About Dedi Kusnandar's Extreme Injury, Alludes To The Condition Of The Host's Field

JAKARTA - Persib Bandung coach, Bojan Hodak, talked about Dedi Kusnandar's serious injury. He mentioned the condition of Barito Putera's field, which was the host team at the Sultan Agung Stadium, Bantul.

In the 15th week of Liga 1 2024/2025 which will take place on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, Persib is scheduled to visit Barito Putera's headquarters. In the match which took place at 19.00 WIB, Maung Bandung won 2-1 over the host.

Although he managed to return home with three points, Persib had to pay for it with a severe injury that happened to Dedi. Related to that, Hodak openly called the Sultan Agung Stadium field bad.

The coach accused the poor condition of the field of causing Dedi to be seriously injured. This happened because the player was wrong when he was about to fight over the ball with his opponent.

"I've said that since before the match, it will be a very difficult match. We also don't believe this match will run well because the players are tired," Hodak was quoted as saying on the club's official website on Thursday, December 19, 2024.

"There were a lot of matches played and the pitch was very bad. One of the reasons Dedi suffered a bad injury was the pitch."

"So, we can't play a good game with a field like this," said the Croatian coach.

Even so, the 54-year-old coach was a little relieved that Persib could get three points at home to Barito Putera.

This result also maintains the unbeaten trend of 14 matches that have been played in Liga 1 this season.

"It can be seen that the players are exhausted and their movements are so heavy. Both teams, not only us, but both teams like that."

"However, in the end I am happy with three points and that is the most important thing," said Hodak.

Furthermore, Bojan Hodak does not deny injury will approach his players. You see, this season, Persib not only underwent League 1, but also the AFC Champions League (ACL) 2.

"We've been saying since the start of the season, our problem is a tournament at the AFC. If only the New Indonesian League (PT Liga) had not changed the schedule against Bali United, then we could have died."

"So, this is normal when playing a lot of games. Players are exhausted and injuries come," said the coach.

"One thing is we are unbeaten. We haven't lost 18 games, four games in last season's (Championship Series) playoffs and 14 games this season."

"It means, we played well. It's not just because of luck," he said again.