Van Gastel Loves Persijap vs PSIM Match Held Without Spectators
JAKARTA - PSIM Yogyakarta coach Jean-Paul van Gastel will lead his team to a home game at Persijap Jepara headquarters. However, he regretted that the match had to be held without spectators.
PSIM Yogyakarta will visit the Gelora Bumi Kartini Stadium, Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at 19.00 WIB. This match is the 15th week meeting of the 2025/2026 Super League.
Van Gastel highlighted the atmospheric differences that will be faced in the match later tonight. He compared this situation to the previous match against Persija Jakarta which was filled with approximately 50 thousand spectators at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
"After the match against Persija, there were more than 50 thousand spectators and people around. Yes, it (the match without spectators) was unfortunate," said Van Gastel, quoted from the official PSIM website, Tuesday, December 23, 2025.
The reason is, according to van Gastel, the presence of fans is the life of a football match. The absence of supporters in the stands is considered to reduce additional energy for the players on the field.
"So, for me, playing without the fans is like training. I always say, you play football for the fans. If there are no fans, then the atmosphere in the stadium will not have extra energy," said the 53-year-old coach.
Even though he will play a game with a different situation, van Gastel doesn't want to be bothered. He actually interprets the game tonight as an advantage for his team, as well as vice versa.
"But in the end, we still have to get results from the match because this is a league match. I don't care if it's (a match without an audience) an advantage or not. I just like playing with an audience," he said.
Ahead of the Persijap match, van Gastel revealed that his team's condition is currently in excellent condition, especially with the return of Raka Cahyana and Cahya Supriadi after the two young players served with the Indonesian U-23 National Team at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games.
"The condition of Raka and Cahya is quite good and fit. They are ready to play," said Van Gastel.