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KOMPAS.com – The jersey number is one of the identities possessed by football players.
On the European continent, there is a number 7 which is now synonymous with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Likewise with number 10. The number that is commonly worn by the great footballer is now attached to Lionel Messi’s jersey when he was in the Argentine national team uniform.
In Indonesia, there are also players who are identical with certain jersey numbers, you name it Alfeandra Dewangga.
Also read: Profile of Alfeandra Dewangga, Tough Defender of the Indonesian National Team Who worships Luke Shaw
Alfeandra Dewangga or familiarly called Dewa indeed identical to the number 19 jersey when defending PSIS Semarang to date.
Dewa always wears the jersey number when playing with his club PSIS Semarang. On the back of Alfaandra Dewangga’s jersey will be written Dewa 19 like the name of the Indonesian legend band Dewa 19.
Even though it was accidentally the same as the name of the band Dewa 19, Dewa explained that at the beginning he used the number 19, which until now he was PSIS Semarang.
It all started when he was on Indonesian National team U-19 At that time, Dewa was eyeing the number 3.
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“There is a story that at that time in Sidoarjo, I was confused when choosing my jersey number.”
“At that time it was number three, and was used by Yudha (at the time of Coach Fakhri),” said Alfeandra Dewangga as quoted from the PSSI YouTube channel.
The player who plays as a defender was confused to determine the jersey number.
Despite having difficulties, Dewa finally got an idea from a kitman to choose number 19.
The number was chosen to be like the legendary Indonesian band, Dewa 19.
Alfeandra Dewangga always uses the number 19 and Dewa’s name on his jersey to suit the band.
At that time, he hoped the number 19 could bring luck to this day.
“Then there was a kitman, his name was Mang Agus, he told me.”
“Try using number 19 so that it’s the same as Dewa 19, then okay, who knows what blessings, until now,” he explained.
The number 19 shirt finally brought Dewa to join his first team, PSIS Semarang. Until now, this number is still used by Dewa at PSIS Semarang.
However, the back number 19 Dewa in the U-19 national team and PSIS Semarang cannot be used while in the senior Indonesian national team when competing in the 2020 AFF Cup.
That’s because Dewangga uses the number 28 on the back. Even without the number 19, Dewa performed well under the direction of coach Shin Tae-yong.
Evidently, Dewangga has always been a starter in eight matches for the Indonesian national team in the 2020 AFF Cup.
In fact, Dewa was once lined up as man of the match because of his slick performance in guarding the Indonesian defense line from repeated attacks by Vietnam.
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