P

ersipura Jayapura’s hopes of earning a berth at the Asian Champions League’s (ACL) group stage died on Thursday after Adelaide United outclassed them 3-0 in their playoff match at Hindmarsh Stadium in Australia.

Persipura could not cover its lack of preparation against the Reds as Australian Nigel Boogaard took an advantage of a corner kick, scoring the team’s first goal in the 12th minute. Adelaide United and striker Sergio van Dijk then stymied several attempts made by the Black Pearl to fight back.

Van Dijk is of Indonesian and Dutch heritage and is currently becoming a naturalized Indonesian citizen to join the nation’s soccer team.

In the second half, host striker Dario Vidosic made a corner kick that was received by back Osama Malik, assisting Evgeniy Levchenko to score a second goal for the home team in the 57th minute.

Van Dijk, 29, showed off his skills and eventually scored Adelaide’s third goal — shooting with his left foot directly into Persipura goalie Yoo Jae-hoon’s net in the 84th-minute.

All was lost for Persipura when referee M Iemoto of Japan blew his whistle to call the match for Adelaide United.

Adelaide will now advance to Group E in the ACL group stage. The club was initially given a direct passage into the Champions League main draw after Persipura was ruled ineligible because it plays in the unsanctioned Indonesian Super League.

However, the Papuan-based club appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was provisionally reinstated to the Champions League earlier this month.

A final ruling will not be issued until next month, but perhaps it would no longer be significant after the defeat. Persipura director La Siya said that the loss was predictable following the limited time the club had for preparations.

“We made limited preparations, so the players could not give their maximum,” La Siya told The Jakarta Post over the telephone after the match.

La Siya said that the club’s management was glad that Persipura could make it to the ACL playoffs, despite the loss.

“Now, we are focusing to play our best in the Indonesian Super League. Hopefully, by gaining a victory in this ISL season, we will be able to earn another playoff spot during the next ACL season,” he added.

Persipura secretary-general Thamrin Sagala said that he would not make any excuse over his team’s lost. “We’re just grateful to have been able to fly to Adelaide and have the playoff shot.”