Riko Simanjuntak (born 26 January 1992) is an Indonesian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a winger for Liga 1 club

Persija Jakarta Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jakarta ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Jakarta'; abbreviated as Persija), is an Indonesian professional football club based in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. Persija Jakarta is one of the most s ...

. Before he joined

Persija Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jakarta ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Jakarta'; abbreviated as Persija), is an Indonesian professional football club based in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. Persija Jakarta is one of the most s ...

, he had changed clubs four times. He is sometimes called Ucok and is often a mainstay player for the team in Indonesian competitions.

Club career

PSMS Medan

In 2010-12, before he joined

PSMS Medan Persatuan Sepakbola Medan dan Sekitarnya, commonly known as PSMS, is an Indonesian football club based in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is one of Indonesia's most successful clubs. They currently compete in Liga 2, the second level in In ...

, Simanjuntak was an amateur futsal player in

Pematangsiantar Pematangsiantar (sometimes written as Pematang Siantar, acronym PS or ''P. Siantar'', colloquially just Siantar), is an independent city in North Sumatra, Indonesia, surrounded by, but not part of, the Simalungun Regency, making Pematangsiantar an ...

North Sumatera North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

. He and his brother Johan Simanjuntak always played together in one team. Simanjuntak plays as a right flank, Johan as a left flank. Once, PSMS's Coach Suimin Diharja watched their futsal match together. Simanjuntak and Johan's speed, agility, and sharpness made the coach interested in recruiting him. Finally Simanjuntak and Johan joined PSMS and played for PSMS Medan who were then playing in the

Indonesia Super League Liga 1 ( en, League 1), also known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by the PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Liga 1 ...

. This was Simanjuntak's first football club.

PS Bangka

After the chaotic league dualism, a year later, Simanjuntak did not get a League 1 team. He finally joined and played for Liga 2 club PS Bangka. This is where he showed his abilities in the field. In the 18 games he played, Simanjuntak scored 7 goals.

Gresik United

In the 2015 season, Simanjuntak signed a year's contract with

Persegres Gresik United Gresik United Football Club, commonly known as GUFC, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Gresik, East Java. They currently compete in Liga 2, after promotion from Liga 3. They are considered to be one of the relatively good fo ...

. He made his debut in a 0–1 away win against

Barito Putera Persatuan Sepak Bola Barito Putera, also known as Barito Putera, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. The club currently competes in the Liga 1. History Foundation and Galatama era (1988–199 ...

on 11 April. He scored his first goal in a 2–1 home win against

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

, scoring after 45 minutes.

Semen Padang

In 2016 Simanjuntak signed with

Semen Padang PT Semen Padang is the state-owned company that became oldest cement plant in Indonesia, having been founded in 1910. The company owns the football club Semen Padang F.C., that competes in the Liga 2 (Indonesia). History PT Semen Padang (P ...

for the

Indonesia Soccer Championship A Indonesia Soccer Championship A, also known as Torabika Soccer Championship presented by IM3 Ooredoo for sponsorship reasons, was a football competition that replaced the temporarily-suspended Indonesia Super League. Persipura won the title on ...

. He made 66 league appearances and scored 4 goals for Semen Padang.

Persija Jakarta

In 2018, Simanjuntak signed a contract with Indonesian Liga 1 club

. He made his debut on 23 March 2018 in a match against Bhayangkara. On 8 June 2018, Simanjuntak scored his first goal for Persija against TIRA-Persikabo in the 85th minute at the Sultan Agung Stadium,

Bantul Bantul is a town and district, and the capital of Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The district (''kapanewon'') covers an area of and had a population of 64,360 at the 2020 Census. It is a bustling town about to the sou ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club honors

;Persija Jakarta * Liga 1:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Indonesia President's Cup The Piala Presiden (English: President's Cup) is an annual pre-season association football tournament held in Indonesia and organized by the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). It is participated by Liga 1 clubs. The inaugural tournament w ...

* Menpora Cup:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Individual

* Liga 1 Best Eleven:

ASEAN Football Federation The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) is an organisation within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is an international governing body of association football in Southeast Asia. It consists of the federations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia ...

Best XI: 2019 *

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying ...

All-time XI: Wide midfielders

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simanjuntak, Riko 1992 births Living people Batak people Indonesian footballers People from Simalungun Regency Sportspeople from North Sumatra Indonesian Premier Division players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players PSMS Medan players Persegres Gresik players Gresik United players Semen Padang F.C. players Persija Jakarta players Indonesia international footballers Association football midfielders 21st-century Indonesian people