Witan Sulaeman (born 8 October 2001) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Liga 1 club Bhayangkara, on loan from Persija Jakarta, and the Indonesia national team. A youth product of Ragunan Sports School, Witan started his professional career with PSIM Yogyakarta. He joined Serbian club Radnik Surdulica in July 2020, becoming the first Indonesian to play in a Serbian league. In 2021 he moved to Polish side Lechia Gdansk before being loaned to Slovakian side Senica in 2022. He moved to Trenčín in the same year. The following year, Witan returned to Indonesia by joining Persija Jakarta. Witan has represented Indonesia since U19 level. He has represented his side at two Southeast Asian Games and led his side to the final of the

2020 AFF Championship The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the 7th and the last edition ...

. Witan took part in Indonesia's qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup by scoring two goals.

Club career

PSIM Yogyakarta

On 17 August 2019, Witan signed his first professional contract at the age of 17 with Liga 2 side PSIM Yogyakarta. He made his first-team debut for PSIM Yogyakarta when he was part of the starting lineup of a

2019 Liga 2 The 2019 Liga 2 was the third season of the Liga 2 under its current name and the 10th season under its current league structure. Persik won the title after a 3–2 win over Persita in the final at Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar on 25 N ...

match against Persiba Balikpapan on 22 August 2019, in which PSIM won.

Radnik Surdulica

At the age of 18, Witan joined Serbian SuperLiga club Radnik Surdulica in February 2020 on a three-and-a-half year deal. However, the season was soon suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic for a period of months, during which he returned to Indonesia. He finally made his professional debut on 14 June 2020, coming on for

Bogdan Stamenković Bogdan Stamenković (; born 19 January 1998) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League 2 club Egaleo. Career Spartak Subotica 2016–17 season Born in Surdulica, Stamenković started playing football w ...

during a 4–2 SuperLiga defeat to Radnički Niš.

Lechia Gdańsk

On 1 September 2021, Witan joined Polish club

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football club based in Gdańsk. The club was founded in 1945 by people expelled from Lwów, who were supporters of Poland's oldest football team Lechia Lwów, founded in 1903. The club's name comes from Lechia, a ...

on a two-year contract. Witan joined shortly after his international teammate

Egy Maulana Egy Maulana Vikri (born 7 July 2000) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Indonesia national team. In 2017, Egy was named as one of the 60 most talented and promising players born in the year 2000 by ''The Gua ...

departured to Senica in Slovakia. Three days later, Witan made his Lechia Gdańsk debut in a friendly match against

Jeziorak Iława Jeziorak Iława is a Polish football club based in Iława, Poland. It was founded in 1945. The team's official colors are white and blue. Jeziorak played in the second division for five years and spent multiple seasons at the third level of Polish ...

as a substitute for Kacper Sezonienko in the 73rd minute. He made his league debut for Lechia Gdańsk. However, he did not strengthen the main team, but for the reserve team, Lechia Gdańsk II. when he was part of the starting lineup of a IV liga match against MKS Wladyslawowo on 11 September, in which Lechia won. On 26 July 2022, it is announced that Witan and Lechia Gdańsk both agreed to mutually terminate his contract.

FK Senica (loan)

On 21 January 2022, Witan joined Slovak Super Liga club Senica on loan until the end of the season. On 12 February 2022, Witan made his league debut playing full 90-minutes against league giants Slovan Bratislava, as his team suffered 0-5 defeat. Witan made his first goal for his club at Slovak Cup winning game against SV Sasona Arena. In the quarter final of Slovak Cup, against

FK Pohronie FK Pohronie is a Slovak football team, based in the town of Žiar nad Hronom. The club currently competes in 2. Liga. The 2019/20 season was the first time in the club's history that the team played in Fortuna Liga, the highest level of the ...

, he gave one assist and one goal for the winning match.

Trenčín

On 9 August 2022, Slovak club AS Trenčín announced that they had signed Witan on a two-year contract. On 13 August 2022, Witan made his debut, coming on as a 73rd minute substitute for Lucas Demitra in a goal-less league draw against Ružomberok. On 24 August 2022, Witan scored his first and second goal for Trenčín during a record-setting 14–0 victory against Slovan Hlohovec in the Slovak Cup.

Persija Jakarta

On 31 January 2023, Witan joined Liga 1 side

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 suc ...

on a three and a half year contract. Witan made his league debut on 12 February in a 2–0 home win against Arema at the

Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium ( id, Stadion Patriot Candrabhaga) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia. It is currently used mostly for association football matches. The stadium holds 30,000 people. Patriot Stadium f ...

, Bekasi. On 5 April, he scored his first league goal in a 0–1 away win against Persebaya Surabaya. He also continued his good form in April with give assists a opening goal by

Michael Krmenčík Michael Krmenčík (born 15 March 1993) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot First Division club Apollon Limassol and the Czech Republic national team. Club career Krmenčík was born in Kraslice, Czech Republic ...

, whilst also scored his second league goal for the club in a 5–0 win against PSS Sleman. With this victory, Persija is assured to finish in runner-up in the final standings of the 2022–23 Liga 1. He contributed in 10 league appearances with 2 goals and 1 assist for the rest of 2022–23 season.

Bhayangkara (loan)

On 14 November 2023, Witan joined

Bhayangkara FC Bhayangkara Football Club are an Indonesian professional football club based in Bekasi Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The club are linked to the Indonesian National Police, with many of their players serving as policemen. Even the name of the cl ...

on a loan until the end of the season.

International career

At the age of 16, Witan made his international debut with Indonesia U19 in the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 45ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 a ...

on 31 May 2017 against Brazil U20 with a score of 1–0 defeat. Later that year he scored a brace in an 8–0 win over Brunei at the

2017 AFF U-18 Youth Championship The 2017 AFF U-18 Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the AFF U-19 Youth Championship, organised by ASEAN Football Federation. It was hosted by Myanmar during September 2017. Eleven out of the twelve member associations of the ASEAN Football ...

. He also scored in the third-place match against

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. At the

2018 AFC U-19 Championship The 2018 AFC U-19 Championship was the 40th edition of the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. It took place in Indonesia, which wa ...

held in Indonesia, Witan scored two goals in a group stage win over

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

before scoring the lone goal in a 1–0 victory over the United Arab Emirates to lead his team to the quarterfinals for the first time in 40 years. Witan was part of the Indonesia under-23 team that won silver in the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

in the Philippines. He received a call to join the senior Indonesia national football team in May 2021. He earned his first senior cap in a 25 May 2021 friendly match in Dubai against Afghanistan. On 11 October 2021, he made first international goal against

in a

2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

leg 2, in which Indonesia won 3–0. On 12 December 2021, Witan scored a goal in a

game against

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. On 22 December 2021, Witan scored again against Singapore in the first leg of semi-final. On 14 June 2022, Witan scored a brace against Nepal in a 7–0 win in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Witan was again called up for the Indonesia senior team for the

2022 AFF Championship The 2022 AFF Championship (officially AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 due to sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and was the 1 ...

. He scored a goal against Cambodia at the group stage on 23 December 2022.

Personal life

In the midst of busy following the training camp with the Indonesia national team, On 29 May 2022, at the age of 20, Witan married his girlfriend, Rismahani. Witan officially married Rismahani in a wedding ceremony held in Palu, Central Sulawesi.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

International under-23 goals International senior goals

Honours

Indonesia U-19 * AFF U-19 Youth Championship third place:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

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 U-23 * AFF U-22 Youth Championship:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Southeast Asian Games Silver medal:

* Southeast Asian Games Bronze medal:

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 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* Southeast Asian Games Gold medal:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Indonesia * AFF Championship runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *

: Team of the Tournament * Southeast Asian Games Top Goalscorer:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulaeman, Witan 2001 births Living people Indonesian men's footballers Indonesia men's youth international footballers Indonesia men's international footballers Men's association football wingers PSIM Yogyakarta players FK Radnik Surdulica players Lechia Gdańsk players Lechia Gdańsk II players FK Senica players AS Trenčín players Persija Jakarta players Bhayangkara Presisi Indonesia F.C. players Liga 2 (Indonesia) players IV liga players Serbian SuperLiga players Slovak First Football League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Indonesian expatriate men's footballers Indonesian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Indonesian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Indonesian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia People from Palu SEA Games medalists in football SEA Games silver medalists for Indonesia Sportspeople from Central Sulawesi Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games Competitors at the 2023 SEA Games SEA Games gold medalists for Indonesia 2023 AFC Asian Cup players