Indonesian U-21 striker Andik Vermansyah recently joined D.C. United’s first team for training from September 10th to September 21st. The popular and skillful youth international was introduced to the club through new investor Erick Thohir.
Through his time with the club, Vermansyah got a chance to experience first-hand the level of play here in Major League Soccer. Vermansyah, who currently plays for Persebaya Surabaya in the Indonesian Premier League, said through a translator last week at RFK Stadium that “It’s the first time I have come to America. There is definitely a culture shock.”
“This was quite a valuable experience for me. The coach [Ben Olsen] and players really welcomed me,” which made the 11 days in America a bit easier than one would expect being 10,000 miles away from home.
Vermansyah participated in numerous training sessions including anything from small-sided games, to full-sided games and sessions in the weight room.
Following his training stint, Dave Kasper, General Manager of D.C. United took some time to chat about Andik’s performance while here in our nation’s capital. “He’s a very technical and talented young player. With each training session we saw an improvement in his game, and that was encouraging,” said Kasper. “He has a lot of things to work on in his game, but has a lot of good starting points and potential, and we will keep a close eye on him,” Kasper continued.
Vermansyah returned home to Indonesia on Saturday to re-join his club team.
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