The Paradoxical Fate of the National Futsal and Women's Football Teams at the SEA Games

By reaching the final of the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, the Indonesian women's futsal national team has already made history. When they ultimately came to a halt in the final match after being thwarted by Vietnam, that is another story. What is certain is that this proud achievement is inseparable from the vibrant domestic competition atmosphere, which sets it apart from the fate of its "older sibling," the women's football national team.

Attacking from open play was a given. Attacking with a powerplay (the goalkeeper assisting in the attack) was also a given. However, the Vietnamese women's national futsal team's defense was too strong for the Indonesian women's national futsal team to penetrate in the final at the Bangkokthonburi University Gymnasium in Bangkok on Thursday (12/18/2025).

When the referee blew the long whistle, the Indonesian players could only bow their heads. The 0-5 defeat to Vietnam indeed shattered the dream of bringing home the gold medal from Thailand. However, their achievement is already very special.

"It is indeed sad not to win, but we must also be proud of our previous best achievement, which was winning bronze; now we have reached the finals and secured silver. Moreover, the women's team was initially not going to be sent," said the captain of the women's national futsal team, Novita Murni Piranti.

Two days earlier, in the semifinal match, Indonesia successfully defeated the host nation with a score of 7-6 through a penalty shootout after a 4-4 draw. Not only was it impressive to overcome Thailand in front of their own public, but what is also commendable about this result is that "Garuda Pertiwi" managed to overcome the difference in levels.

So, when we get an opportunity, we have to maximize it. This is our best result.

If we look at the world rankings, Thailand is the best team in Southeast Asia. Thailand ranks 8th, followed by Vietnam in 11th place, and then Indonesia in 18th. This result is also reflected in the 2024 ASEAN Futsal Championship, where Indonesia finished third behind Thailand and Vietnam.

From the organization of women's futsal in the previous five editions of the SEA Games, Thailand has always reached the finals and emerged as champions. This time, however, their journey was halted in the semifinals. Indonesia has made history by reaching the finals for the first time alongside the regular finalists, Vietnam.

Not only dominating Southeast Asia, Thailand has also managed to challenge Japan in the final of the 2025 Futsal World Cup. The "Land of the White Elephant" team also qualified for the 2025 World Cup, although their journey was halted in the group stage.

The best achievement of Indonesia previously was securing third place in Kuala Lumpur 2017. "Eight years of waiting is quite a long time. We also missed one edition, and women's futsal is not always included in every SEA Games. Therefore, when given the opportunity, it must be maximized. This is our best result," said Novita, who was part of the team when they won bronze in Kuala Lumpur 2017.

Novita has been a part of the national women's futsal team since its first participation in the SEA Games during the Jakarta-Palembang edition. The player from West Java is aware that, similar to women's football, the participation of women's futsal in the SEA Games has also been inconsistent.

After not participating in the inaugural edition of the SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima 2007, Indonesia took part in three consecutive editions until Kuala Lumpur 2017. Indonesia began to ascend the podium in 2017 after finishing in fourth place in the previous two editions.

However, when futsal was held again at the SEA Games Vietnam 2021, which took place in 2022, the women's futsal national team was unable to depart despite having undergone a training camp. In addition, Indonesia was in a positive performance after achieving second place behind Thailand in the Southeast Asian tournament, the NSDF Women's Futsal Championship 2022.

The results that tend to improve with each participation in the SEA Games indicate that women's futsal indeed has potential. Moreover, the achievement in Thailand was attained with preparations that were not optimal. In addition to having only about three months of preparation, they also did not have suitable opponents for practice matches.

The women's futsal squad this time is predominantly composed of young players who lack experience in the SEA Games or participation in other international tournaments. The only strong asset that these young players possess is a tested competitive mentality, at least domestically.

Women's futsal is known for its vibrant competitive atmosphere. Since 2012, the Women's Professional Futsal League (WPFL) has been held. Although there was a two-year gap between the first and second seasons, as it was only held again in 2015, the WPFL has since been organized annually.

In fact, the competition continued throughout the pandemic. To date, there have been 11 editions of the WPFL.

In addition to the professional league, there is also the Liga Nusantara, which has been regularly held since 2015 as a second-tier competition. There are also the Student League and Campus League for inter-student competitions. Not to mention the regional tournaments for various age groups.

From there, the players can continue to be tested and hone their skills. Their talents can also be detected. One of them is Fitry Amelya, the debut goalkeeper for the national team and SEA Games. Fitry caught Estrela's attention after performing well in the WPFL this season.

This vibrant competitive atmosphere is not experienced by the women's national football team, which relies more on training camps as a substitute for the absence of a league. Since 2019, there has been no women's football league in operation. Women's football competitions have only been held again this year through private initiatives, and even then, they are only targeting the under-15 and under-18 age groups.

Therefore, it is understandable that there is a disparity in the fortunes of the women's futsal national team and the women's football national team at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. The women's football team has reached the semifinals for the first time since the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 2001. However, they still face challenges in competing with the top teams in Southeast Asia.

A day after the women's futsal team defeated Thailand to advance to the semifinals, the women's football team lost 0-2 to Thailand in the bronze medal match. This marks the second defeat after also losing 0-8 in the group stage.

Like in futsal, Thailand is indeed at a different level. The problem is, in football, that disparity is very evident. Even when Thailand arrived as a "struggling" team after failing to qualify for the 2026 Asian Cup for the first time since 1997 and being assured that they would not compete in the 2027 Women's World Cup, Indonesia was still unable to overcome their richer experience.

The national women's futsal team coach, Luis Estrela, stated that the vibrant competition atmosphere greatly assists him in scouting players. The coach from Portugal mentioned that he utilizes all levels and types of women's futsal competitions to acquire players. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are several young and new faces among the players.

"We understand that the best players are sometimes in the league, but there are many great talents who are not always playing in the league. Therefore, we utilize all channels to search for players. Our approach is to try to find modern female athletes. Thus, with strength, technique, an excellent profile, and a good work ethic to play for the team," said Estrela.

Estrela implemented the approach she had previously used when managing Benfica, which won the Women's Futsal League of Portugal in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. Not only relying on abundant talent, Estrela also aims to change the mentality of the players. This mentality, according to Estrela, is not just about what the players do during two hours of training.

"What we do in the 22 hours when we are not training. Sleep time, eating patterns, weight control. Also respect. And we need to eliminate the fear of playing against the best teams. And to look them in the eye and always play to win. So, that is the foundation of winning teams," he stated.

Women's football and women's futsal may be siblings. However, who would have thought that at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, the difference in their fates would be evident simply because they were "raised" in different ways.

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