July Rain, Rain in the Hearts of the Women's National Football Team

Heavy rain accompanied by thunder that poured over the Indomilk Arena Stadium in Tangerang Regency, Banten, on Wednesday (2/7/2025) since the afternoon temporarily ceased when the Indonesian women's national football team entered the field at 20:00. The kickoff of the match against Pakistan took place without a drop of rain. However, the rain returned, mirroring the increasingly bleak fate of the women's national team.

Rain fell after the first half of the match when Indonesia had already conceded two goals. It was not as heavy as in the afternoon, which had temporarily halted another Group D match in the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, Taiwan versus Kyrgyzstan.

The rain could not conceal the sorrow of "Garuda Pertiwi." Several players were seen crying after the referee blew the final whistle. Indonesia lost 0-2 to Pakistan following Nadia's goal in the 8th minute and a penalty goal by Suha Hirani (18'). However, the rain seemed to add to the atmosphere of profound sadness.

The players' faces were puffy as they passed through the mixed zone, the path for players and team officials to move from the locker rooms to the bus parking area. Only a few players were willing to be interviewed, the rest looked away.

They stared straight ahead at the bus parking lot or looked down. Some had headphones in their ears. A stark contrast to three days earlier when they had won 1-0 over Kyrgyzstan.

That reaction is quite natural. Shafira Ika and her teammates have just lost, and every defeat is always painful. Moreover, the loss to Pakistan occurred when Indonesia could be considered superior in every aspect.

Garuda Pertiwi, armed with a victory in their opening match, ranks higher in the world standings (95th position) and is performing in front of their home crowd. In contrast, Pakistan arrives with a disheartening result from their previous match: a crushing defeat of 0-8 against Taiwan.

Moreover, Pakistan is the most inferior team in the group, ranked 157th in the world. They have not been active this year and did not win any matches last year.

National women's team winger, Zahra Muzdalifah, emphasized that they do not underestimate Pakistan at all. According to Zahra, superiority, especially in world rankings, is merely a number.

"Ultimately, it all comes down to what happens on the field. So, we do not underestimate it at all. However, the ball is round, and I cannot say much about that. I also regret it," said Zahra, who has been strengthening the women's national team since 2018.

Regret was also expressed by the national women's team coach, Satoru Mochizuki. Based on his preliminary analysis, Mochizuki once again highlighted the lack of fundamental skills among the players, such as passing, controlling, and kicking the ball, as one of the reasons for the team's defeat. In fact, this issue has been raised by Mochizuki since he was first appointed as coach last year.

This means that, in this year, Mochizuki has still not found a solution to the problem. Furthermore, there is no regular competition that allows players to continue honing their basic skills.

"There were many mistakes on the field that caused us to lose the ball, both due to inaccurate passes and poor ball control. We found it difficult to dictate the flow of the match because of those fundamental errors," said Mochizuki.

"But, yes, this is football. I want the players to learn and also continue to move forward for the upcoming matches," said the coach who was part of the coaching staff of the Japanese women's national team when they won the World Cup in 2011.

Against Pakistan, Indonesia actually had no shortage of opportunities to win. Garuda Pertiwi even showed their dominance on the field.

When compared, the opportunities for Pakistan and Indonesia are like night and day. However, Pakistan has been able to play effectively by maximizing every opportunity they have.

In the first half, the children under the care of Adeel Mirza Rizki had only three chances, two of which resulted in goals. Meanwhile, Indonesia recorded at least 11 opportunities, particularly through direct shots from outside the penalty area.

However, Indonesia is experiencing disorientation. The players seem to have lost their direction, whether when passing, receiving, or kicking the ball, both in attacking and defending.

When attacking, the Indonesian players ultimately took direct shots from outside the penalty area in an attempt to breach the opponent's goal. They lost direction after struggling to penetrate the opponent's defense, unable to advance into the penalty area. However, the problem was that those long-range shots were also not accurate.

While defending, the Indonesian players often found themselves caught off guard. Pakistan, as previously warned by coach Satoru Mochizuki, is dangerous during counterattacks. This was evident as they created their first opportunity from that scheme. That initial opportunity even resulted in a goal through the actions of striker Nadia.

Nadia, who advanced from the right side of the attack to receive a breakthrough pass, was unmarked by left-back Gea Yumanda and center-back Emily Nahon. From the right side of the attack within the penalty area, Nadia kicked the ball, which deflected off Indonesian defender Gea Yumanda, and could not be caught by the newly naturalized Indonesian goalkeeper, Iris De Rouw.

In the second half, Mochizuki attempted to sharpen the attack by introducing Indonesia's sole goal scorer in the match against Kyrgyzstan, Isa Warps, along with another forward, Marsela Awi. The Japanese coach also brought in Rosdilah Siti and Helsya Meisyaroh to strengthen the midfield. However, these efforts did not yield results.

On the other hand, not replacing the defenders despite facing difficulties in thwarting the opponent's attacks, which followed a similar pattern on several occasions. Emily, for instance, was unable to catch up with the Pakistani player who relied on speed for counterattacks on two occasions.

When the player substitutions ended in a stalemate, according to Iris De Rouw, the fighting spirit of the players had also begun to decline. "As a team, we should not give up and continue to fight until the last second. However, I feel we wasted that by perhaps giving up too soon. In fact, in the second half, we should have regarded it as a new opportunity," said Iris.

Ideally, Indonesia should win against Pakistan. If they cannot achieve a resounding victory like Taiwan's 8-0 defeat of Pakistan, winning by any score would actually be sufficient for Indonesia. A victory would keep their chances alive to qualify for the Asian Cup again, as they did in the 2022 edition.

With this scenario, Indonesia “only” needs to win against Taiwan to compete for a ticket to the Asian Cup. Although with this scenario Indonesia and Taiwan both collect six points from three matches played, “Garuda Pertiwi” is entitled to qualify for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup because they are superior in head to head over Taiwan.

However, with the defeat against Pakistan, the scenario is not that simple. They not only have to win the final match against Taiwan, but they also have to hope that Pakistan does not defeat Kyrgyzstan. This means that Indonesia will depend on the outcome of another match.

If Pakistan wins against Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia must secure a significant victory over Taiwan, which is notably the strongest team in the group. This is because Indonesia, Pakistan, and Taiwan will all collect six points, and the advantage will be determined by goal difference.

On the other hand, Pakistan demonstrated their extraordinary mentality to Indonesia. A crushing defeat of 0-8 against Taiwan is not something easily accepted by a team. However, they were able to rise stronger after that loss.

In fact, after the defeat against Taiwan, the hope of qualifying for the Asian Cup seemed to be closed off as they needed to win in the subsequent two matches against teams above them. From Pakistan, Indonesia can learn about resurgence after a defeat.

"As players, we have two choices, don't we? The choices are to pity ourselves, lower our heads, give up, and not fight. Or the other choice is to hold our heads high, understand our mistakes, forget them, learn from them, and move forward and play," said Pakistan's captain, Maria Jamila Khan.

"So, once again, over the last two days we have gathered, trying to, once again, support each other, and our message at the beginning of the match during the meeting was, whatever happens, we will stay together. And that was truly evident tonight on the field," he stated again.

The rain continued to fall, albeit lightly, when the referee blew the final whistle. Amidst the rain, the Pakistani players celebrated their first victory with great joy, embracing one another and unfurling their proud flag. At the edge of the field, as the rain gradually ceased, another kind of rain soaked the hearts and cheeks of the Indonesian players.

There is still one match awaiting the national women's team. As the renowned poet Sapardi Djoko Damono said, nothing is more resilient than the rain in June. However, who knows, the rain this month and the rain in the hearts of the national women's team players may surpass that resilience.