Emil Audero and Kevin Diks Shine On Opening Weekend

Two key players for the Indonesian National Football Team, Emil Audero and Kevin Diks, who compete in Europe’s top leagues, have successfully captured the nation’s attention with their impressive performances in their recent season openers.

In Serie A, Emil Audero, now guarding the goal for Cremonese, was named as one of the crucial figures in their dramatic 2-1 victory over AC Milan in the early hours of Monday (25/08). This win marks the first positive result I Grigiorossi have secured against I Rossoneri since 1994.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper was the surprise of the match, making several key saves to deny Milan’s attackers. A particularly heroic moment came in the 51st minute when he palmed away a signature long-range strike from Luka Modrić. The powerful shot from the former Real Madrid star nearly gave Milan the lead after they had equalized just before halftime through Strahinja Pavlović.

Riding a wave of momentum, Milan intensified their attack as they sent in Alex Jimenez and Samuel Chukwueze, but failed to find the go-ahead goal. Instead of capitalizing on their chances, they were caught out by a swift Cremonese counter-attack, which was finished effectively by Federico Bonazzoli to put Cremonese ahead in the 60th minute. The 2-1 scoreline stood until the final whistle.

Moving on to Bundesliga, Kevin Diks began on the bench for Borussia Mönchengladbach, coming on in the 77th minute to replace youngster Fabio Chiarodia. Despite his brief appearance, Diks showed solid synergy with wing-back Luca Netz and even came close to scoring a decisive header in the 92nd minute, that would have sealed a victory for his team.

Following this result, Cremonese has soared to 4th place in the Serie A standings, while Mönchengladbach sits in 10th position.

Emil Audero and Kevin Diks set to raise the bar for the Indonesian National Team

Although their opening matches concluded rather successfully, more difficult challenges await in Matchday 2 this coming weekend: Cremonese will face the giant-killers of Serie A, Sassuolo (29/08), while Mönchengladbach travels to take on the last season’s surprise DFB-Pokal champions, VfB Stuttgart (30/08).

These matches will undoubtedly demand the full focus of Audero and Diks, who are now firmly in the spotlight for Indonesian football fans. Both players are expected to become the new standard-bearers, raising the level for Indonesia in top-tier European competitions.

Serie A and the Bundesliga are both highly demanding top-European leagues that require peak physical condition, albeit with contrasting styles of play. If both players can maintain consistent performance until at least the middle of the season, they will undoubtedly set a new benchmark for Indonesian football and could establish themselves as key senior figures to lead the next generation of young players.

Audero, in particular, seems to have his name pinned as head coach Patrick Kluivert’s main goalkeeper for Indonesia’s upcoming major competitions. The former Juventus youth player has been named the starting keeper for the upcoming friendly matches against Kuwait (which was recently canceled) and Lebanon next month.