P

usamania Borneo FC and PSM Makassar marched to the quarterfinals of the President'€™s Cup after booking their second wins in Group D at Andi Mattalatta Stadium in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Friday.

Pusamania defeated Gresik United to collect six points from two matches. Its first win came at the expense of Persipasi Bandung Raya, which it beat 2-0 on Sunday.

For Gresik, it was the team'€™s second loss, leaving it with zero points. It was trashed by PSM Makassar 3-0 in its first match.

PSM also advanced with a 2-0 win over Persipasi Bandung Raya later in the day. The two goals for the hosts were scored by Ardan Aras in the 54th minute and Rasyis Bakri three minutes before the end of the match watched by some 20,000 spectators. There were only hundreds in the crowd in the match between Pusamania and Gresik.

The President'€™s Cup was officially kicked off on Sunday by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo in a ceremony in Gianyar, Bali, in the wake of the world soccer governing body FIFA ban on Indonesia from participating in international competitions.

The crisis in national soccer had also prompted a halt to all domestic tournaments before the government moved with the Independence Cup and President'€™s Cup initiative.

Sixteen teams are split into four groups in the President'€™s Cup. The Independence Cup, which is entering the semifinals, also features 16 clubs of lower tier.

In Makassar, Gresik looked more aggressive in its effort to seek redemption for its opening defeat. But it was Pusamania that broke the deadlock after Serb Lopicic scored from the penalty box in the ninth minute.

Referee David Trihatmoko had to point to the penalty kick after Gresik goalkeeper Muhammad Ridwan fouled Basri L.

Gresik equalized in the 17th minute through Fitra Ridwan, who latched onto Rico Simanjuntak.

Pusmania was back in front through Terens Puhiri after a workout with Boaz Salossa.

After a break, Pusamania doubled its lead with Lopic scoring his second goal early in the second half.

Despite the win, Pusamania coach Iwan Setiawan said that his players had not put in their best performance with them having only three days to recover from the first match.

'€œWe have achieved our target of advancing to the quarterfinals,'€ he said.

Despite the failure to progress, Gresik coach Lestiadi promised to fight on against Bandung Raya in the last group match.