JAKARTA - Persija Jakarta is scheduled to travel to Madura United headquarters in the 10th week of the 2025/2026 Super League. Visiting the home of the former team, Mauricio Souza, coach of Persija, was reluctant to reminisce and instead focused on getting full points.
The Persija and Madura united meeting will take place at the Gelora Ratu Pamelingan Stadium, Pamekasan, on Friday, October 24, 2025, WIB night. This match is a reunion event for Mauricio Souza, who briefly led Laskar Sapeh Kerap in Liga 1 2023/2024.
Cooperation between Souza and Madura United ended in an anti-limax after no agreement on the duration of the contract. Souza refused to sign a short-term contract extension offered by Madura United management.
The 51-year-old coach also chose to separate and is currently focusing on a career with Persija. Even though he no longer handles Madura United, Souza is happy to be back in Pamekasan.
"First, I am very happy to be back in Pamekasan. It can be in this stadium again, where I have had fun with the people here," Souza said in a press conference before the match quoted from the official I-league website on Friday, October 24, 2025.
On the other hand, the sweet memories that had been created did not make Souza complacent. He chose to focus on winning with Persija, especially that he realized Madura United were a strong team after winning their last away match against Dewa United.
"Our preparations are very good. There is not too much time to prepare because last Saturday we played against Persebaya. However, everything is in accordance with the plan."
"The players are very motivated for this match. They know how hard it is to play Madura United here."
"They just came back with a win in the away. They have a good team. However, we are very motivated and know how important it is to get the three points here," said Souza.
Souza believes he can win victory at Madura United headquarters. He also said the players were very motivated to get the three points.
However, he still respects Madura United for raising her name in Indonesia.
"We are also motivated to win. Victory is important for us. I'm sure it will be an extraordinary match, but we came to get three points. I respect Madura United, but we need a win," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
