Manila, Philippines – Indonesia’s Women’s National Futsal Team doesn’t always compete in tournaments. But when they do, they place rather well.
FIFA ranks the Indonesians as #14 in the world. In 2017, they finished third in the Southeast Asian Games. The following year, they booked a quarterfinals slot in the AFC Asian Women’s Futsal Championships finishing fifth among the 15 participating countries.
Then in 2023, they bagged the gold medal in the first ever PFF Tri-Nation Futsal Invitational.
However, this 2024, in the lead up to the 2024 AFF Women’s Futsal Championship in Manila (November 16-21 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig), they lost all four of their matches in the NSDF Women’s Futsal Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.
Thailand is the prohibitive favorite in this tournament with Vietnam having a real chance to pip the latter. Indonesia, under head coach Arif Kurniawan, are dark horse contenders with a lot to prove.
Led by team captain Novita Murni, Indonesia is hungry and with a lot to prove.
Indonesia opens the 2024 AFF Women’s Futsal Championships with a huge match against Thailand at 4pm of November 16.
They earn a bye on the next day and return to action on November 18 against Vietnam; once more at 4pm.
Myanmar will be Indonesia’s opponent on November 19 in a game slated for 4pm.
The final day of the elimination round will be a rematch of last year’s PFF Tri-Nation Futsal Invitational when they battle host Philippines in the main game at 7pm.
For Indonesia to realize their championship aspirations, it is imperative they pick up a favorable result in any of their first two matches.
The battle for third and fourth place and the finals will be played on November 21 at 4pm and 7pm respectively.
