D.C. United co-owner Erick Thohir hails from Indonesia and vowed to bring in a fellow countryman to play for D.C. United at his introductory press conference last July.
On Friday he delivered on his word.
The club announced the loan acquisition of Indonesian attacking midfielder Syamsir Alam from Belgian side C.S. Visé. Alam has been a fixture for Indonesian international sides beginning at the Under-11 level.
"Definitely. For sure," Thohir told reporters in July 2012 when asked about the potential of bringing in players from his native country. "But I don’t want to bring just any players. If they’re not good enough, don’t bother D.C. United. If they’re good enough, let them come."
The 20-year-old Alam has been good enough to earn spells with Uruguayan giants Peñarol and Dutch Eredivisie sides SC Heerenveen and Vitesse Arnhem.
“Syamsir is a young, attacking midfielder with good technical ability, and we look forward to having him on loan with us,” D.C. United GM Dave Kasper said in a club statement.
Alam is not the first Indonesian that has been linked with D.C. United. Indonesian Under-21 forward Andik Vermansyah had a training stint with the club in September 2012.
