The 19-year-old has a bright future ahead of himself after starring for Espanyol reserve team in their pre-season friendly football fixture.
Asian starlet, Arthur Irawan, is enjoying life in Catalonia. Playing for the lesser known entity from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604, the Indonesian player has impressed Espanyol sporting administrators in his six months stay with the club.
After playing with the Juvenile side, Irawan was promoted to the reserve team in their pre-season friendlies. The exciting right-back was awarded a 45 minutes of action against their fellow Spanish Segunda Division B side Taradell.
The youngster acknowledged that he was nervous when he stepped on to the pitch but settled to the affairs on the ground after some time. He added that Fran http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Miranda-c25988, the reserve team captain, praised him after the match, which was a welcome boost.
Reflecting on his promotion from the Juvenile squad to the reserve team and participation in the Segunda Division B, Irawan shared that it is a big step up but believes he can make the transition smoothly.
He added that he is now looking forward to playing against Reus Deportiu in their next pre-season friendly fixture, before going on to reveal that he is eyeing the reserve team regular wing-back slot as his goal for the coming season.
“I was nervous at the start against Taradell, but then I settled into the game and really enjoyed it," the 19-year-old shared said. "The Reserve captain, Fran Miranda, told me that I could be proud of my performance.”
“I knew that I had to make a huge step up, coming from the Juvenile squad into the Reserves, but I feel I’ve coped just fine over the first couple of weeks.”
“After a week’s intense training in the Pyrenees, we are now back in Barcelona and preparing for the next friendly game on Thursday against Reus.”
“They are in the same division as us so it will be a good test.”
As Irawan make the step up to the reserve side, Espanyol hierarchy received good news from the Catalan Football Federation. Los Parakeets had been upset with Barcelona pulling out of Supercopa Catalunya and have voiced their frustrations in the media.
A solution has now been reached with the pre-season friendly being played on September 26 instead of July 31.
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