Erol Iba

Erol Iba (born in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, 6 August 1979) is a retired Indonesian professional footballer. He normally plays as a defender or can be a midfielder. Best known for his speed in the left wing, he is also noted for his good dribbling, passing and aggressiveness. He is currently the assistant coach of the Persipura Jayapura.

Erol Iba
Personal information
Full name Erol Fransiscus Xaverius Iba
Date of birth (1979-08-06) 6 August 1979
Place of birth Jayapura, Indonesia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Left back, Left winger
Team information
Current team
 Persipura Jayapura (Assistant)
Youth career
1994–97 Diklat Papua
1997–98 Diklat Ragunan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Semen Padang
2002–2004 PSPS Pekanbaru
2004–2006 Arema Malang
2006–2008 Persik Kediri 32 (1)
2008–2009 Pelita Jaya
2009–2010 Persipura Jayapura 14 (0)
2010–2012 Persebaya Surabaya 38 (2)
2012–2013 Persegres Gresik United 17 (1)
2013–2014 Sriwijaya F.C. 16 (0)
2014–2015 Persepam Madura Utama 17 (0)
International career
2001 Indonesia U-23
2006–2009 Indonesia 17 (0)
Managerial career
2020 Persiba Balikpapan (Assistant)
2022- Persipura Jayapura (Assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Starting his football career in Papua Training and Education Center, Erol moved to Ragunan Training and Education Center in 1997. There he spent one year, before joining with football club from West Sumatera which played in Indonesian League, Semen Padang, in 1998. In this club, where he spent four years, Erol was remarked as one of the most talented Indonesian wing backs. The young star took his club as top ten club in the competition in 2000, and in 2001 he took Semen Padang to the semifinal phase of Indonesian league. His abilities soon attracted many clubs to sign him. In 2002, he signed a one-year contract with PSPS Pekanbaru, a club that was forming a dream team by signing many of Indonesian's famous players such as Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto and Bima Sakti.
However, he failed to repeat his good performance in Semen Padang as well as the club failed to be the top flight in the league.
Despite his poor performance, Erol was signed by Benny Dollo, currently the coach of Indonesian football team, who was at that time, the coach of Arema Malang, in which Erol spent three years from 2003 to 2006.

In this club Erol proved his talent by taking the club to become the champion of Copa Indonesia in both 2005 and 2006.
Later on he joined Persik Kediri after the departure of Benny Dollo from Arema Malang. In 2007 Erol signed a deal with Pelita Jaya joining Fandi Ahmad, the ex–Singapore most famous striker, who is coaching for the club.
His form attracted attention from current A-League side Sydney FC.

After 11 years playing in several clubs outside Papua, Erol, in 2009, return to his hometown playing for Persipura Jayapura, the 2 times Champion of Indonesian Super League. He said that this was every Papua player's dream to be in the Persipura Jayapura Squad. His success in Indonesia League breaks a negative thought saying that Papuan players often fail when they are playing for another clubs outside Papua.

More interest came from A-League sides, this time Newcastle Jets, and Erol was linked with the Australian Side.

In January 2015, he signed with Persepam Madura United.[1]

International career

He has played for the Indonesia national football team.[2] His first International debut in a senior national team squad was on 23 August 2006 at the 2006 Merdeka Tournament. There he played for Indonesia against Malaysia, where the teams tied 1-1.[3] At Asian Cup 2007 he just played one time as a substitution player when Indonesia lost 0–1 to South Korea in the last game in group D.

National team career:

  • 2001: Pre Asian Cup (selection), SEA Games XI Kuala Lumpur(U-23)
  • 2006: Brunei Merdeka Games, BV International Cup
  • 2007: AFF Championship, Asian Cup

Achievements
  • 2 times winning Piala Indonesia (2005, 2006) with Arema Malang
  • 4th Places at Sea Games XI Kuala Lumpur (2001) with U-23 National Team after loss 0–1 to Myanmar U-23 National Team (3rd Places)
  • Runner-up Brunei Merdeka Games 2006 after being beaten 1-2 by Myanmar

References
  1. "PMU, Klub Divisi Utama Paling Serius di Jatim?" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  2. "Erol Iba". Goal. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  3. "Merdeka Tournament 2006 (Malaysia)". Retrieved 9 April 2009.
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