 Persema is now popular as the club that first hired European-born naturalized players Irfan Bachdim and Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan whose nominations to the Indonesian under-23 national football team in 2011 were cancelled by the Indonesian Football Association because they chose to play in the breakaway league.Its coach Timo Scheunemann is a German who was born and bred in Indonesia and has become a father figure in Indonesia for Bachdim and Kurniawan.His ability to speak Indonesian and Javanese makes him popular among local journalists.