Recovering From Injury And Ready To Play In The Menpora Cup Semifinals, Igbonefo: Praise God, All Is Well Now

JAKARTA - Persib Bandung central defender Victor Igbonefo made sure to recover from his injury and is ready to return to compete in the semifinal round of the Menpora Cup against PSS Sleman, at Maguwoharjo Stadium, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Friday.

According to Igbonefo, the injury he sustained in the quarter-finals was not serious and it was not natural for a player with a tight schedule of matches, especially after missing a year without an official match.

"I'm better now. Yesterday's conditions I think are reasonable, the matches are tight and the travel schedule is long, this is reasonable," Igbonefo was quoted as saying by Antara from the club's official website on Wednesday.

Igbonefo is confident that there will be enough time left for him to recover so that he can return to face PS Sleman at Maguwoharjo Stadium this weekend.

In yesterday afternoon's training session, the naturalized Nigerian player had also devoured all the training menu given.

"Praise God, all good now," said the 35-year-old.

Meanwhile, Persib midfielder Esteban Vizcarra stressed the importance of hard work to face tougher challenges after ensuring qualification to the semi-finals of the 2021 Menpora Cup.

'We've been in the semi-finals, it's definitely tough, the opponents are good and who's ready, he's going to qualify. We had to work harder because it was a tough match," Vizcarra said.

The number 10 player also admitted that he did not think too much about the strength of PSS who became his opponent later but only focused on his team's program during this preseason tournament.

A total of four teams have qualified for the semi-finals of the Menpora Cup, namely PSM Makassar, Persija Jakarta, Persib Bandung and PSS Sleman.

Furthermore, the four teams will undergo a semifinal match scheduled to take place from 15-19 April in two legs, namely at Maguwoharjo Stadium, Sleman and Manahan Stadium, Solo.

The first leg, Persija will meet with PSM Makassar on Thursday, April 15, 2021, while Persib will compete against PSS Sleman on Friday, April 16, 2021.

Both matches will be held at the home of PSS Sleman, namely Maguwoharjo Stadium, Sleman, Yogyakarta.

Then the second leg, PSM Makassar against Persija on Sunday, April 18, 2021, while PSS again met Persib on Monday, April 19 at Manahan Stadium Solo.