Krmenčík: The year in Jakarta was a blast for me and my family! But the attacker would not be opposed to returning to Europe

Could you have asked for a better end to the season?

I could have scored more than three goals. I had six, seven chances. Unfortunately, only three fell there. No, seriously, I’m very happy for the hat trick.

The fans gave me a solid ovation. In addition, we played the last match at the national stadium, over sixty thousand spectators came. Kudy (Persia defender Ondřej Kúdela) and I thought that we only experienced this in selected stadiums during the Champions League.

But such visits are not common in Indonesia.

Persia played home matches at the national stadium before covid, sixty thousand were said to attend regularly. But in order not to get ahead of myself, we started the season at another stadium, which was up to an hour away from the training center.

Are Indonesian fans fanatics?

I’ve experienced PAOK Thessaloniki, Brugge before, but the Jakarta fans are absolute fanatics. There is only football and club for them. Persia has fans all over Indonesia, there are millions of them. When we went for a walk around the city with our family, people stopped us at every corner. They wanted autographs and photos from me with the whole family.

How is your life in Jakarta?

We have a lot of friends. For example, the family of former Juventus player Marco Motta. We will definitely continue to visit in the future, we have children of the same age. The wife made friends with the Asian community of mothers in kindergarten, they formed a very close relationship. They regularly went to breakfast and exercise, she made great progress in English. That year gave us all an awful lot. My wife and I recently reviewed it. It was a blast, beautiful.

However, there has been a report in the Indonesian media that you may not continue in Jakarta…

The year in Indonesia was wonderful, it gave me a lot. In football and off the field. I have never experienced such a school of life anywhere, the family was very satisfied. We live in a super resort where there is absolutely everything. But honestly, if it came to that, I wouldn’t be against returning to Europe.

Is the return 100%?

I will answer indirectly. During the last season, a lot happened around me in the Czech Republic, my name was mentioned in the media every other day. I needed a break from it all, my family too. I wanted the Czech media to forget about me for a while. In Jakarta, I realized that I love football. I’m thirty, I want to prove to myself and my loved ones that I can still take it and that I can still score goals.

If you were to be released by Jakarta, do you prefer to return to the Czech league or anywhere abroad?

The season ended a few days ago, it’s too early to say anything concrete. The matter is yet to be resolved. But I repeat again, we loved it in Indonesia with our family, it was the best destination for us.