Thailand Still Too Strong, Indonesian Women's National Team Far Behind

HAI PHONG, WEDNESDAY — The crushing defeat of 0-7 against Thailand in the 2025 ASEAN Women's Championship only underscores the disparity in level between the Indonesian women's national football team and the top-tier teams in Southeast Asia. The gap is so pronounced that it separates Indonesia from Thailand in this tournament, which serves as a true test for "Garuda Pertiwi."

Indonesia began its appearance in the 2025 ASEAN Women's Championship with a crushing defeat of 0-7 against Thailand in Group A at Lach Tray Stadium, Hai Phong, Vietnam, on Wednesday (6/8/2025). Arriving as the champion of the AFF Women's Cup, the second-tier tournament that serves as a qualifier for the ASEAN Women's Championship, Indonesia must acknowledge that Thailand remains too formidable for them.

The ASEAN Women's Championship, featuring eight teams, presents a true challenge for Indonesia. This is where the eight best teams in Southeast Asia compete. Three of them have even participated in the World Cup, namely Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Thailand may come with a wounded condition after failing to qualify for the 2026 Asian Cup for the first time since 1997. This failure was recently experienced last month when they were thwarted by India in the final qualifying match. As a result, they are also confirmed not to be able to compete in the 2027 Women's World Cup.

In the ASEAN Women's Championship, Thailand did not field its best team as several players who are playing abroad did not participate. The ASEAN Women's Championship is not part of the official FIFA calendar, so clubs are not obligated to release their players.

However, despite a decline in their performance in recent years, Thailand remains Thailand. The "Elephant Girls" team is still one of the giants of women's football in Southeast Asia.

When Indonesia was still "crawling" in Southeast Asia, Thailand was already running towards the World Cup. They have experienced competing in the Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019.

Thailand also arrived at the ASEAN Women's Championship, formerly known as the AFF Women's Championship, as the team with the most titles. Thailand is the most successful team with four championship titles in 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2018.

The world ranking gap between Thailand and Indonesia is quite significant. Thailand is positioned at 46, while "Garuda Pertiwi" occupies the 95th rank.

In terms of meeting records, Thailand is also dominant. In the last five matches since 2015, they have consistently defeated the "Garuda Pertiwi" by a margin of at least three goals. A decade ago, they even defeated Indonesia 10-1 in the 2015 AFF Women's Cup.

All those advantages are not merely numbers on paper, but are also manifested on the field when the two teams met again on Wednesday (6/8/2025). Thailand dominated from the first half, bombarding Indonesia's defense with relentless attacks.

Throughout the match, they made a total of 29 shots. The situation was different for Indonesia, which was unable to make a single shot, whether on target or not.

"Of course, it is very disappointing although we know that Thailand's strength is quite good; they truly deserve to win," said the interim coach of the women's national team, Joko Susilo.

"We are very disappointed with this 0-7 defeat, which could have been less severe if the children had played more calmly," he added.

Indonesia indeed arrived at the ASEAN Women's Championship in less than ideal conditions. Ahead of the tournament, PSSI replaced coach Satoru Mochizuki and appointed Joko Susilo as the interim coach.

Whether as a player or a coach, Joko has had a long and varied career in Indonesian football. In addition to having coached several clubs, Joko also served as an assistant coach for the Indonesian national team in 2019.

However, compared to Mochizuki, Joko lacks professional experience in coaching female players, let alone at the national team level. Mochizuki, whose role has been changed to technical advisor for the women's national team, was part of the coaching staff of Japan that won the Women's World Cup in 2011.

The women's national team squad is also different from the composition when playing in the qualifiers. While this means providing opportunities for other names to join the team, the changes also require the team to readjust.

With the defeat against Thailand, a heavy task awaits Joko Susilo to lead Indonesia to the semifinals. Only the top two teams from each group can advance to the knockout stage.

Indonesia, which is in Group A alongside Thailand, Cambodia, and the host Vietnam, currently occupies the last position in the standings with 0 points. Cambodia also has no points after losing 0-6 to Thailand, but its position is better due to a superior goal difference.

In the next match, on Saturday (9/8/2025), Indonesia will face the host nation. Vivi Oktavia Riski and her teammates will confront Cambodia in the final group stage match on Tuesday (12/8/2025).

Meanwhile, the senior team lost, while the U-20 women's team achieved a draw in their opening match of the 2025 U-20 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers against India. The Group D match, held at Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday (6/8/2025), ended with a score of 0-0.

With this draw, the U-20 women's team earned their first point in the tournament. Although they were unable to secure a victory, managing to hold India to a draw is an achievement that deserves appreciation. India is the strongest opponent in Group D, which also includes Myanmar and Turkmenistan.

India not only has a good track record by participating in the Women's Asian Cup in three editions in 2002, 2004, and 2006, but they also managed to reach the quarter-finals in their second appearance. This situation contrasts with Indonesia, which has never qualified for the same event since its inaugural edition in 2002.

"I think this (result) is extraordinary. We achieved the first point together as a team. However, this is not the final target here. There are still two matches left, and we will prepare again," said the coach of the U-20 women's team, Akira Higashiyama.