Promoting naturalization, Indonesian women's football determined to usurp Vietnam and Thailand

Similar to men's football, the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) is pushing forward with the naturalization process of female players from the US, the Netherlands and Germany to supplement the national women's team.

The Indonesian women's team attracted attention when they introduced three naturalized players of American origin, Sydney Hopper (2007), Kayla Ristianto (2005) and Katarina Stalin (2009), in a friendly match with the Hong Kong women's team in July (losing 2 matches with scores of 2-3 and 1-4). Recently, they continued to naturalize Nikita Tropm, a striker who played for the Netherlands U.23 team and is currently playing as a striker for FC Utrecht in the Dutch women's football league. The long-term goal of Indonesian women's football is the same as men's football, which is to compete for a ticket to the World Cup. But first, they will have the opportunity to test their skills at the 2024 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship, scheduled to take place from November 24 to December 5 in Laos.

Nikita Tropm played for the Netherlands U.23 team

Photo: UEFA Women's EURO 2025

Recently, PSSI has announced a big plan for their women's national team. With a budget of about 2.3 million USD, Indonesian women's football aims to develop strongly in the near future to catch up with the top teams in the region.

Last September, the Indonesian women's team had a training trip to Japan and played a total of 7 friendly matches with local clubs. However, they suffered a 1-18 defeat to Urawa Reds, the club that beat Ho Chi Minh City women's team 2-0 in the 2024 Asian Champions League in early October.

Also during the FIFA Days in October, the Indonesian women's team will play a friendly match with the Netherlands women's team (1:45 a.m. on October 26). It must be said that the Netherlands is one of the top women's teams in the world at the moment. They won the 2017 Women's EURO and were runners-up at the 2019 Women's World Cup. At the 2023 Women's World Cup, the Netherlands women's team defeated the Vietnam women's team in the group stage with a score of 7-0.

The Indonesian women's team will meet the Netherlands women's team.

In recent years, the women's football teams of Vietnam and Thailand have faced strong competition from the Philippines. At the 2022 AFF Women's Cup, the Philippine women's team, with many players naturalized from the US, defeated the Vietnamese women's team 4-0 in the semi-finals and then beat the Thai women's team 3-0 in the final to win the championship. They also made a big splash at the 2023 World Cup when they defeated host New Zealand. This has prompted PSSI to increase the naturalization of players from the Netherlands and the US for the Indonesian women's team.

At the 2022 AFF Women's Cup, Indonesia is still a weak team, finishing last in the group stage. However, things could be different at the tournament later this year when the Indonesian women's players are determined to make things difficult for the top teams in Southeast Asia, just like their men's team did.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/day-manh-nhap-tich-bong-da-nu-indonesia-quyet-soan-ngoi-viet-nam-va-thai-lan-185241025170416551.htm