Arthur Irawan

Arthur Daniel Irawan (born 3 March 1993) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Waasland-Beveren, as a defender.^[1]

Career

Early career

Arthur started playing football at Jakarta since 8 years old like any other boys his age, and had attracted the attention of Manchester United youth academy, but Arthur's family chose to focus on his academic life first.^[2] Prior to signing for RCD Espanyol B Arthur was recorded having played for Lytham Town, an English amateur football club. Then scout from Espanyol saw him when he was playing in a game in England . They offered a 2 months trial, which was accepted, and soon gave him a contract for 4 years. Brought by Espanyol is clearly a positive leap for his career . Arthur Irawan then trained under the philosophy of youth academy of RCD Espanyol.

RCD Espanyol B

On November 9, 2011, Arthur officially signed for RCD Espanyol. He was then made available to play for RCD Espanyol B to adapt to European football, and to further develop his playing skill. He played in 22 games and scored 2 goals before moving to Atlético Malagueño .^[3]

Malaga B

In January 2014, Arthur decided to sign for Atlético Malagueño, after 3 years playing for Espanyol B in Segunda B. The news was spread after he said it himself in his own website "now, I play for Malaga FC’s reserves team and the first team is in my sights". He then confirmed his transfer by uploading photos of him in a training session of Malaga with 4 other players at Facebook.^[4]

Waasland-Beveren

in a Summer transfer of 2014, Arthur joined Belgian side Waasland-Beveren. Arthur Irawan finally made a Belgian Pro League debut in their final match of a season's Grup A play-off II on Sunday (10/5). In this match, Waasland was defeated 1-2 by the guest, KV Mechelen ^{[5] [6]}

International Career

Arthur was first called to play for Indonesia in the preparation of AFF Suzuki Cup 2012, which was held in Malaysia. He played as a subs in a friendly match against Timor Leste national football team^[7] at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium which ended with 1-0 win for Indonesia, but he did not earn his first cap as the match was considered unofficial by FIFA. Unfortunately for him, he was then excluded from the list of 22 players by coach Nil Maizar due to incompatibility with team needs at that time and the late arrival of Raphael Maitimo.^[8][9]

References