What's up, Bambang?

The value of a striker is often times measured through the number of goals that he scores. But even until Persija Jakarta's ninth game, the 20-year-old star striker Bambang Pamungkas hasn't even scored a goal yet. His feet and head don't seem too dangerous anymore, and his place in Persija's squad has been slowly but surely taken by another young striker, Budi Sudarsono, who tops the league's goalscoring chart with 9 goals.

Why, Bambang? What's happening?

His style hasn't changed much: still wearing a silver necklace and still likes to wear black clothes, his favorite color. He looks skinnier, however, than before he went to Holland last September. He also has a girlfriend now, a young celebrity who attends University of Pelita Harapan in Jakarta.

Bambang is also busy managing his website: www.bambang20.com. The site is up and running, but not fully filled. He plans to finish everything by mid-year.

There seems to be nothing unusual in the life of Indonesia's most-promising youngster, except for the fact that he hasn't scored a single goal so far in the league. Once dubbed "the King of Air" for his deadly headers, his reputation as a top striker in Indonesia is deteriorating.

Bambang, who was born in Salatiga, reveals he's been under constant pressure for the last one year. Family problem is one of the causes, and this became a main factor when he decided to be loaned to Persija Jakarta from his Dutch club, EHC Norad, until summer. Cold weather in Holland was also another reason for the move back.

Bambang now takes over the responsibility of funding his younger siblings whom are going through college. Not that he minds the responsibility, of course, because he could possibly be the highest-paid player in Indonesia this year. Since he's only loaned from EHC Norad to Persija Jakarta, his salary is still paid regularly by the Dutch club. He only doesn't receive match fees from EHC Norad anymore.

With Persija last year, Bambang was one of the highest-paid local players with Rp 25M a month, and according to a source, Bambang's salary in EHC Norad is twice as much. That's not including bonuses from the club and the contract money, whose number he refuses to reveal.

With all that he's receiving from EHC Norad, he could very well be the only player in Indonesian League who has European-standard salary.

Many football analysts have warned about this during the pre-season, when Persija's board, with their money and power, started stacking all the star players in the club. Now their warning is proven true. Gendut Dony, top scorer at 2000 Tiger Cup in Thailand, has only scored one goal so far, while Bambang, last season's top scorer with 2 goals, has none.

But amidst all this, Bambang believes he can return to his peak performance. He very much believes that given enough time and playing opportunities, he can live up to his reputation once again.

source: Jawa Pos Online