Balikpapan: Indonesia’s PSM Makassar are all set to welcome Thailand’s BG Pathum United in their inaugural ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ Group A fixture at the Batakan Stadium on Wednesday.
Founded in 1915, PSM are one of the oldest football clubs in Indonesia and have won the top-flight title twice, most recently in the 2022-23 season, in addition to reaching the quarter-finals of the Asian Club Championship in 2000-01 as well as the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal final in 2022.
Portuguese head coach Bernardo Tavares has re-established the club amongst the strongest in the nation but have had a challenging start to the new season bowing out in the group stage of the Indonesia President’s Cup before bouncing back with consecutive wins to start the 2024-25 Liga 1 campaign.
Now under the captaincy of centre-back Yuran Fernandes, PSM have strengthened their squad with the likes of Tito Okello and Daisuke Sakai as they aim to now challenge on the international front.
Meanwhile, BG Pathum United are one of the most successful clubs in Thai football in recent times having won the Thai League 1 title in 2020-21 and the Thai League Cup last season.
The Rabbits boast Southeast Asian superstars such as Chanathip Songkrasin, Teerasil Dangda and Ikhsan Fandi in their ranks and have added the likes of Ikhsan’s brother Ilhan Fandi, Lars Veldwijk and Gakuto Notsuda to bolster their team further to challenge on multiple fronts this season.
BG Pathum defeated Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in an eye-catching pre-season friendly result followed by opening their 2024-25 Thai League 1 campaign with a 3-1 victory against Sukhothai FC.
However, a shock 1-0 home defeat to newly-promoted Rayong FC last week halted their momentum as they now aim to bounce back on their trip to Balikpapan on the island of Borneo.
Interestingly, this will be BG Pathum’s first-ever competitive fixture against an Indonesian club while PSM’s last meeting against a Thai side came almost two decades ago in 2005 when they drew 2-2 versus BEC Tero Sasana in the AFC Champions League.
Group A of the Shopee Cup also features Malaysia’s Terengganu FC, Vietnam’s Đông Á Thanh Hóa FC, Cambodia’s Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC and Shan United FC from Myanmar with the top two sides having the chance to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament.
PSM Makassar vs BG Pathum United
Venue: Batakan Stadium, Balikpapan
Kick-off: August 21, 7:30 PM (Local Time)
Photo: BG Pathum United
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