Indonesia seeks English-speaking coach to 'please' naturalized players

An important criterion for the new Indonesian women's team coach is that she must be fluent in English.

Mr. Satoru Mochizuki (right) was fired as head coach of the women's team due to poor communication with the players - Photo: BOLA

After firing Japanese coach Satoru Mochizuki, the president of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI), Mr. Erick Thohir, required his successor at the women's team to know English.

The request was made to address communication issues within the Indonesian women's team, which includes many naturalized players from the United States and the Netherlands.

The head coach position of the Indonesian women's team is currently temporarily assigned to coach Joko Susilo. He will lead the team to participate in the 2025 AFF Women's Championship this August.

However, PSSI is actively looking for a permanent head coach and Mr. Erick Thohir stressed that the ability to communicate in English is an indispensable requirement.

"Currently, our women's team has players from the US such as Sydney Hopper and Katarina Stalin, as well as from the Netherlands. So we are looking for a Japanese coach who can speak English," Erick Thohir said at a press conference.

According to the PSSI president, the communication problem in the Indonesian women's team was not effective in the past because Mr. Satoru Mochizuki could only speak Japanese. This forced the team to use an interpreter who had to translate the coach's instructions into both Indonesian and English for the players.

"So he can give instructions right on the field. Having to go through two or three interpreters is quite complicated for the players," Mr. Erick Thohir explained.

The need for an English-speaking coach has become even more urgent as the Indonesian women’s team has recently naturalized many foreign-born players. In addition to the names mentioned by Mr. Thohir, the team also has the services of Dutch-born players such as Emily Julia Frederica Nahon, Felicia Victoria de Zeeuw, Iris Joska de Rouw and Isa Guusje Warps.

Despite being removed from the head coach position, Mr. Satoru Mochizuki will continue to work in a new role as technical advisor.

Despite naturalizing many foreign players, Indonesian women's football has not been able to achieve success. Most recently, they had to watch Vietnam and the Philippines win tickets to the final round of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup.

THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/indonesia-tim-hlv-biet-tieng-anh-de-chieu-long-dan-cau-thu-nhap-tich-20250802125012014.htm