Disorientation Leads to Defeat of Women's National Team

TANGERANG, KOMPAS - Being superior in every aspect does not mean one can return home with everything desired. This is what the Indonesian women's national football team experienced, as they faced disorientation and were ultimately defeated by Pakistan. A challenging road awaits "Garuda Pertiwi," which dreams of appearing in the Asian Cup again.

The Indonesian women's national football team came with many advantages over Pakistan in the second match of Group D of the 2026 Asian Cup Qualifiers, Wednesday (2/7/2025). The team, coached by Satoru Mochizuki, was armed with a victory in the opening match, ranked higher in the world (95th position), and played in front of their home crowd.

In contrast to Pakistan, which arrived at the Indomilk Arena Stadium in Tangerang Regency, Banten, with a heartbreaking result from the previous match: a crushing defeat of 0-8 against Taiwan. Moreover, they are the most inferior team in the group, ranked 157th in the world. They have not been active this year and have never won in their matches last year.

However, Pakistan transformed all of Indonesia's advantages into mere paper achievements. On the field, they emerged as the winners. Indonesia succumbed with a score of 0-2, with a goal from Nadia in the 8th minute and a penalty goal from Suha Hirani in the 18th minute.

"We certainly want to win; it is very regrettable that we lost. However, we do not want to leave with our heads down. We want to rise for the next match and the upcoming events," said Mochizuki after the game.

Indonesia actually has no shortage of opportunities. “Garuda Pertiwi” even showed its dominance on the field.

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

Adeel Mirza Rizki's team only had three chances in the first half, two of which resulted in goals.

Meanwhile, Indonesia recorded at least 11 chances, mainly through direct kicks outside the penalty box.

However, only a few were on target, one of which was Zahra Muzdalifah's shot in the 39th minute that hit the post and Claudia Scheunemann's shot in the 37th minute that was successfully caught by the opposing goalkeeper.

Indonesia experienced disorientation. They seemed to lose their way, both when passing, receiving and kicking the ball, when attacking and defending.

Mochizuki, after the match against Kyrgyzstan, once stated the importance of players mastering fundamental skills, namely passing, controlling, and kicking the ball. These basic skills are indeed what Indonesian players lack proficiency in.

When losing direction, the Indonesian players ultimately took advantage of direct shots from outside the penalty area. However, not all of those shots were on target.

"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.

Just two minutes into the match, Indonesia actually had its first opportunity through a free kick taken by Felicia De Zeeuw. However, the ball, which hit the head of an opposing defender, was caught by the Pakistani diaspora goalkeeper, Zeeyana Jivraj.

Pakistan, as previously warned by coach Satoru Mochizuki, is dangerous during counterattacks. It was proven that they could create the first opportunity from that scheme. The first opportunity even resulted in a goal through the actions of striker Nadia in the 8th minute.

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

A similar incident occurred in the 15th minute when a breakthrough pass to the right side of Pakistan's attack was reached by Mariam Mahmood. Indonesian defender, Emily Nahon, failed to mark Mahmood and ultimately brought her down inside the penalty box.

In the second half, Mochizuki attempted to sharpen the attack by bringing in Isa Warps to replace Claudia Scheunemann. The Japanese coach also introduced Marsela Awi and Rosdilah Siti. However, these efforts did not yield results.

With this result, Indonesia dropped to third place in the Group D standings. Although both collected three points, Indonesia lost head to head with Pakistan.

AFC applies a head to head system if two teams have the same points. This rule applies when the two teams have faced each other.

A steep road awaits Indonesia, which dreams of becoming the group champion in order to qualify. Moreover, Taiwan is increasingly solid at the top of the standings with a record of 6 points thanks to a 3-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan.

Indonesia must win in the final match against Taiwan if it wants to maintain its chances of advancing to Asia. This will still depend on the score and the results of other matches between Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan.

With the victory over Indonesia, Pakistan has successfully bounced back after a crushing defeat of 0-8 against Taiwan. They are now opening up opportunities to qualify for the Asian Cup.

"As players, we have an option, which is to continue feeling sad about the previous defeat or to react positively by rising up. We strive to have only a short-term memory, forgetting yesterday's match and focusing on the upcoming game. That is what we do. We show our character and resilience," said Pakistan's captain, Maria Khan.