2026 President's Cup Semifinal: Ilham Rio Fahmi Focuses on Preparing Persija to Face Persib

Persija Jakarta is directing all its full focus onto the 2026 President's Cup semi-final fixture. After securing their qualification spot for this round, the Macan Kemayoran squad is preparing to face their long-time rivals Persib Bandung in a clash held at Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar, on Tuesday 4 August 2026.

Ilham Rio Fahmi, the defender who captained Persija for the final two group stage matches, confirmed that all players are ready for this critical game. However, he stressed that the team's core priority remains finalising squad development ahead of the 2026/2027 Super League campaign.

Rio stated that the President's Cup acts as a testing ground to measure the team's playing progress before the official season begins. For this reason, Persija will not waste any opportunity to improve their performance standards in every match they contest.

“We see this as a pre-season tournament. Right from the start, our objective has been to properly prepare the squad for the actual main competition, that being the 2026/2027 Super League,” Rio commented via the official Persija website.

Persija progressed to the semi-finals after finishing as runners-up of Group B. This result sets up another meeting between Macan Kemayoran and Persib Bandung, a fixture that always delivers an intense, charged atmosphere in Indonesian football.

Rio is choosing not to get carried away by the hype surrounding this classic derby. He stated that the most important task right now is ensuring every player reaches peak physical condition before kickoff.

The coaching staff will use the break period after the group stage to restore player fitness. The congested match schedule across the tournament has made physical recovery the team's immediate top priority.

Rio noted that physical condition will be the defining factor for Persija when competing in a high-intensity fixture like the upcoming semi-final.

“As players, our entire focus right now is recovery. After coming through such physically draining matches, we have to ensure our bodies are fully prepared for the semi-final,” Rio explained.

For Rio, Persib is an opponent that deserves full respect. Even so, he believes consistent improvement of his own team's performance is far more valuable than over-analysing the opposition's strengths.

For this reason, all training sessions will remain focused on reviewing Persija's own play, both for individual players and the collective team structure.

The 24-year-old defender confirmed that Persija will continue progressive development, to ensure they are ready for the far longer league schedule once this pre-season tournament concludes.

“We are not focusing on other teams, because our priority is our own squad. We will stay fully concentrated on preparing ourselves for the league competition,” he concluded.