PSSI Wants To Learn From Japan To Develop Women's Football By Recruiting Satoru Mochizuki

Satoru Mochizuki (center) was appointed as the coach of the Indonesian Women's National Team (doc. PSSI).

PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir revealed the consideration of choosing a Japanese tactician, Satoru Mochizuki, to be the coach of the Indonesian Women's National Team.

Mochizuki was officially announced as coach of the Indonesian Women's National Team in Jakarta on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. The 59-year-old coach has coached abroad for the first time.

The chairman of PSSI said that Japan is one of the best football countries in Asia. This background made PSSI decide to choose Mochizuki to handle the Indonesian Women's National Team.

"To build Indonesian football, I don't think we can only rely on ourselves. We also need help from countries that have been successful in football, one of which is Japan," said the chairman of PSSI at a press conference.

If you look at history, continued Erick, Japan has only known the ball since 34 years ago. However, they have a serious blueprint and implementation so that their football is number one in Asia.

"This is something we have to learn, how they build football. If we look at the history of Japanese women's football, they are famous and are one of the best in Asia," he said.

"That's the reason we want to expand our cooperation network and build relations with Japan. We want to learn how they implement football blueprint. That's why we build cooperation with JFA, both in terms of referee cooperation and women's football," he said.

The chairman of PSSI said that Mochizuki was chosen through a long process. Before appointing the coach, several PSSI Executive Committees (Exco) had come to Japan.

Erick said Mochizuki's appointment shows how serious PSSI is in building Indonesian football.

"Since 2-3 months ago, we have visited CV (curriculum vitae) and we believe that Satoru is the right person to lead the Indonesian squad."

"If you look at the size (physical), there are similarities between Indonesian and Japanese players. So, we can use the standards they have developed to achieve success like Japan," said the chairman of PSSI.

"First of all, we want to be the best in Southeast Asia, then the best in Asia. However, it is a long process. We have to seriously go through this with coach Satoru," he said again.

Mochizuki's first task is to form a team that is prepared to appear in the 2024 U-17 Women's Asian Cup. This Championship will take place in Bali in May-June 2024.