2018 Sriwijaya F.C. season

The team has announced former T-Team coach, Rahmad Darmawan as their new head coach. He is also Sriwijaya's former coach from 2007 season to 2009 season.^[2] Several players from previous season left the club as their contract terms came to their end and the club didn't renew their contracts.^[3] Esteban Vizcarra, Makan Konaté, Adam Alis, Alfin Tuasalamony, and Yogi Rahardian joined the club not long after the appointment of the new coach.^[4]

The club started their training for 2018 season on 4 December 2017 without their head coach due to his pilgrimage to Mecca.^[5] As of 8 December 2017, 13 new players had been signed for Sriwijaya, including 2017 AFC Cup best player and former FC Istiklol player, Manuchekhr Dzhalilov.^[6] However, two Semen Padang players, Irsyad Maulana and Agung Prasetyo cancelled from signing to Sriwijaya due to them accepted their previous club's new contract.^[7] Alberto Gonçalves and Esteban Vizcarra applied for Indonesian citizenship and expected to be completed before the new season league.^[8] The club held two friendly matches with local clubs with good results.^[9][10]

Several new players signed for Sriwijaya in January 2018, including ex-Borneo FC, Patrich Wanggai.^[11] The club also held one more friendly match with local club before heading to Java to hold two more friendly matches in Cilegon and Bekasi.^[12][13][14] Then, the team went to Bandung to compete in 2018 Indonesia President's Cup Group A with Persib Bandung, PSMS Medan, and PSM Makassar, booked their place in quarterfinal as the group leader with two wins and one loss.^[15]

Sriwijaya went into President's cup quarterfinal against Arema FC in Manahan Stadium, Surakarta and won against them with 3–1 score.^[16] The team failed to proceed to the final after they lost against Bali United by 0-1 aggregate.^[17] Sriwijaya won the third place of the cup after they defeated PSMS Medan with 4–0 score.^[18]

The team went to Balikpapan to attend 2018 East Kalimantan Governor's Cup in Group B with Persiba Balikpapan, Madura United, and Persebaya Surabaya. After having a win streaks against Persiba and Madura United, the team played their second team and lose against Persebaya 0-2 and booked the second place in the group and faced Borneo FC in Samarinda.^[19]

On 2 March, Sriwijaya won against Borneo 5–4 in penalty shootout.^[20] In this match, Sriwijaya's wingback Marckho Meraudje was punched by two match officials on the corridor leading to the dressing room after being sent off by referee after a red card for his foul against Borneo player Abdur Rahman, sparking outrage from his club.^[21]

On 4 March, Sriwijaya won 2018 East Kalimantan Governor's Cup after defeating Arema 3–2.^[22] Four days later, the trophy was brought to a parade in Palembang as the team came back from Kalimantan.^[23]

On 25 March, Sriwijaya's first match was ended in an away draw against Borneo 0–0 in Samarinda.^[24] Under fears of the cup incident, the team played stagnantly in the first half of the match with little improvisation and predictable attack plans. The team situation improved in the second half with aggressive approaches and increased pace as the team spent less time in holding the ball and attacking more aggressively, but they can't score any goals.^[25][26][27]

On 1 April 2018, Sriwijaya earned their first home victory against Persib Bandung 3–1.^[28] The first half marked by a sluggish start by Sriwijaya as the home stunned by Ezechiel N’Douassel in a counterattack, making Persib leads 1–0 against Sriwijaya. Two minutes into the second half, a long shot by Ezteban Viscarra equalised the score, then Sriwijaya leads the game 2-1 as Marckho Meraudje launched a strike to the upper left corner of the goal. Dzhalilov earned his first goal in the league as he ran onto Vizcarra's slide-rule pass before lifting his shot over Wirawan.^[28]

Position	Name
Head coach	Subangkit
Assistant coach	Francis Wewengkang
Goalkeeping coach 1	Heri Susilo
Goalkeeping coach 2	Kurnia Sandy
Fitness coach	Rasiman
Doctor	El Amin

Source:^[29]

As of 11 August 2018

No.	Name	Nat.	Date of Birth (Age)	Since	Signed from	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Dikri Yusron		(1995-01-08)January 8, 1995 (aged 22)	2017	Persela Lamongan	3	0
12	Teja Paku Alam		(1994-09-14)September 14, 1994 (aged 23)	2013	Youth system	46	0
86	Sandy Firmansyah		(1983-07-07)July 7, 1983 (aged 34)	2017	Gresik United	11	0
96	Rangga Pratama		(1996-04-18)April 18, 1996 (aged 21)	2017	Barito Putera	1	0
Defenders
4	Alan Henrique		(1991-06-19)June 19, 1991 (aged 26)	2018	Inter Turku	0	0
5	Rizky Abdiansyah		(1996-01-27)January 27, 1996 (aged 21)	2018	PSMS Medan	0	0
16	Goran Gančev		(1983-08-04)August 4, 1983 (aged 34)	2018	Akademija Pandev	0	0
18	Achmad Faris		(1993-07-03)July 3, 1993 (aged 24)	2017	Gresik United	14	0
20	Beri Rahmada		(1998-07-17)July 17, 1998 (aged 19)	2018	Youth system	0	0
22	Marckho Meraudje		(1994-12-04)December 4, 1994 (aged 23)	2017		45	4
27	Zalnando		(1995-12-25)December 25, 1995 (aged 22)	2016	Youth system	17	0
30	Jeki Arisandi		(1990-11-30)November 30, 1990 (aged 27)	2018	Barito Putera	0	0
31	Samuel Christianson		(1999-07-31)July 31, 1999 (aged 18)	2018	Persija Jakarta U-18	0	0
45	Bio Paulin		(1984-04-15)April 15, 1984 (aged 33)	2017	Persipura Jayapura	11	0
99	Mohammadou Al Hadji		(1986-11-26)November 26, 1986 (aged 31)	2018	Borneo	0	0
Midfielders
6	Yoo Hyun-goo		(1983-01-25)January 25, 1983 (aged 34)	2016	Semen Padang	73	0
7	Yogi Rahadian		(1995-10-27)October 27, 1995 (aged 22)	2018	Mitra Kukar	0	0
11	Esteban Vizcarra		(1986-04-11)April 11, 1986 (aged 31)	2018	Arema	0	0
17	Nur Iskandar		(1986-12-07)December 7, 1986 (aged 31)	2017	Semen Padang	43	2
21	Muhammad Rafif Putra		(1999-02-25)February 25, 1999 (aged 18)	2018	Youth system	0	0
24	Ichsan Kurniawan		(1995-12-24)December 24, 1995 (aged 22)	2013	Youth system	37	4
25	Syahrian Abimanyu		(1999-04-25)April 25, 1999 (aged 18)	2017	Levante	6	0
26	Roby Andika		(1999-01-26)January 26, 1999 (aged 18)	2018	Youth system	0	0
35	Zulfiandi		(1995-07-17)July 17, 1995 (aged 22)	2018	Bhayangkara	0	0
54	Muhammad Iqbal		(1999-07-05)July 5, 1999 (aged 18)	2018	Youth system	0	0
Forwards
9	Beto Gonçalves		(1980-12-31)December 31, 1980 (aged 37)	2016	Penang	79	53
19	Muhamad Ridwan		(2000-06-13)June 13, 2000 (aged 17)	2018	Youth system	0	0
37	Rizky Ramadhana		(1992-03-07)March 7, 1992 (aged 25)	2011	Youth system	34	2
63	Manuchekhr Dzhalilov		(1990-09-27)September 27, 1990 (aged 27)	2018	Istiklol	0	0
89	Hambali Tolib		(2000-06-20)June 20, 2000 (aged 17)	2018	Youth system	0	0

  Win   Draw   Loss