First Challenge for the Women's National Team Named Saudi Arabia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — On paper, the Indonesian women's national football team has many advantages over Saudi Arabia. However, this is not a guarantee when the two meet on the field. Facing Saudi Arabia, which is currently developing its women's football, is a challenge that must be taken seriously to determine the actual level of "Garuda Pertiwi's" capabilities at present.

The Indonesian women's national team will face Saudi Arabia in an official FIFA match in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday (20/2/2025) starting at 23:30 WIB. This event marks the women's national team's first international match in 2025.

The match against Saudi Arabia is also part of the preparations for the 2025 ASEAN Women's Championship next June. Indonesia will host the event, which will bring together eight teams from countries that are members of the Southeast Asian Football Federation. The ticket to the tournament was secured after Indonesia won the qualifying tournament, the 2024 AFF Women's Cup.

The coach of the women's national football team, Satoru Mochizuki, brought 18 players to face Saudi Arabia. They are a mix of senior players who also strengthened the team during the 2024 AFF Women's Championship and young players selected by Mochizuki during the selection process since last January.

"There is no specific target (against Saudi Arabia), but the goal is of course to win," said Mochizuki.

On paper, Indonesia is superior to Saudi Arabia in several aspects. For instance, in terms of world rankings, Indonesia holds a better position than Saudi Arabia. Garuda Pertiwi is ranked 97th in the world, while Saudi Arabia is in 166th place.

In terms of meeting records, Indonesia has also never lost to Saudi Arabia in the previous two matches. The first meeting on February 22, 2023, ended in a 1-1 draw. In the second meeting the following day, Indonesia won 1-0.

However, the result also actually shows that it is not easy for Indonesia to overcome Saudi Arabia. When held to a draw, for example, Indonesia was actually quite dominant and was able to score first in the seventh minute. Indonesia also even had several golden opportunities to increase the advantage.

However, those chances still could not be converted into goals. Instead of increasing the lead, the women's national team conceded five minutes before the end of the match so that the score became a 1-1 draw.

Saudi Arabia's current ranking is also a jump that has occurred in four months. The team rose eight places from its last ranking in August, which is their best position since entering the world rankings in March 2023.

Compared to Indonesia, which already has a women's national team and debuted in international tournaments since 1977, Saudi Arabia only launched its women's national team in 2021. However, that long span is not a guarantee. Moreover, in the last four years, Saudi Arabia has shown their seriousness in developing their women's football.

The team nicknamed “The Green Ladies”, under the leadership of coach Luis Cortes, has played 29 matches, scored 32 goals, and participated in 15 training camps. The presence of domestic competitions has also contributed to the development of the performance of the national team players.

This situation is different from Indonesia. However, facing Saudi Arabia can be an arena to see the reality of the team, which was formed in the midst of a domestic competition that has been in a state of suspended animation since 2019.

In the absence of a league, the women's national team held a selection and training camp that ran from January 16 to February 15, 2025 at the Unesa field, Surabaya, East Java. In the initial stage, the player selection was attended by 52 players consisting of 28 U-20 players and 24 players from U-17.

After a month of selection, 24 players were selected to continue the training camp in Japan. There are six age group players who Mochizuki considered worthy of being with the senior national team against Saudi Arabia.

"I hope to play all the players to see their abilities, especially the young players," said Mochizuki.

One of the young players brought by Mochizuki is Ajeng Sri Handayani. The 18-year-old player caught Mochizuki's attention after leading Persib Putri to win the West Java Pertiwi Cup and sweeping individual awards as top scorer and best player.

Before finally being selected, Ajeng had expressed her determination to strengthen the women's national team. Ajeng wanted to be like her idol, Reva Octaviani, a women's national team player who was selected as the best player in the 2024 AFF Women's Cup.

"I want to follow in her footsteps and bring the women's national team to victory again," said Ajeng.