Momentum of Indonesia's U-16 Women's Football Athletes Fighting on the International Stage

Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup is set to take place from August 14 to 23, 2026, at Supersoccer Arena, Kudus, Central Java. The international U-16 women's football tournament initiated by the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation in collaboration with PSSI brings together seven countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Program Director of the Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup, Teddy Tjahjono, stated that the Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup is the final series of the Women's Soccer Trilogy 2026, following the successful hosting of two previous tournaments, namely the MilkLife Soccer Challenge All Stars (June 23 – 28) and the HYDROPLUS Soccer League All Stars (July 5 – 12). Carrying the tagline Girls, Goals, Glory, this tournament also serves as a platform for the best talents developed thru a structured training system to measure their abilities at the international level.

"We want to continue building the foundation of Indonesian women's soccer achievements thru sustainable development." Women’s Soccer Trilogy 2026 is a connected development pathway. From that process, we selected 56 of the best players before the coaching team finalized 46 athletes to strengthen two teams. The majority of the players are the result of talent scouting from the HYDROPLUS Soccer League, which previously also went thru a development process since the MilkLife Soccer Challenge," he said.

Teddy continued, Indonesia will deploy two teams to represent the Indonesian Women's National Team, namely Garuda Pertiwi under the command of Timo Scheunemann and Putri Nusantara which will be handled by Takumi Taniguchi. Before the tournament, both teams will undergo a training camp from July 24 to August 11, 2026, in Kudus and Pati as part of strategy refinement, physical conditioning, and building chemistry among the players.

"We intentionally prepared two teams with competitive quality so that more players can gain international match experience." We hope that the success of the Senior Women's National Team in winning the 2026 AFF Women's Championship will be an inspiration for them. Especially since this tournament coincides with the 81st anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia. Hopefully, the players can deliver their best performance and achieve a proud accomplishment for Indonesia," Teddy continued.

The commitment to building a young women's football ecosystem has received support from Caffino as the title partner of the Srikandi Merdeka Cup. Soegiono, the Business Unit Head of Coffee & Confectionary Savoria, stated that the development of young athletes requires the consistency of all parties to produce a generation of female footballers who can excel at the international level, such as in the World Cup.

"Savoria Group, thru Caffino, is proud to be a part of the Srikandi Merdeka Cup. We believe that the emergence of outstanding athletes not only depends on proper coaching but also requires continuous competition as a space for players to keep developing. We hope that the Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup will be an important step in producing more young talents who will one day bring honor to Indonesia on the world stage," he stated.

Meanwhile, PSSI Executive Committee (Exco) member, Vivin Cahyani Sungkono, appreciates the commitment of the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation, which continues to consistently build the ecosystem for the development of women's football in Indonesia. According to her, the Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup is an important moment for young players to gain international match experience and to be part of the player monitoring process leading to the formation of the Indonesian U-17 Women's National Team.

"We appreciate the commitment of the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation, which has consistently developed women's football training from early age levels to now hosting international tournaments." The opportunity to compete against other countries is certainly a very valuable experience for the players. This tournament also serves as one of the talent scouting events in preparing the U-17 Women's National Team squad for the 2027 AFC U-17 Qualifiers. "The more players who get playing time at the international level, the greater the pool of quality players that can be projected to strengthen Indonesia," said Vivin.

Head Coach of Garuda Pertiwi, Timo Scheunemann, stated that the training camp is an important phase in forming a solid team ahead of the Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup. During the training center in Kudus and Pati, the players continue to show progress, both in on-field cooperation, communication, and adaptation to the strategies prepared by the coaching team. That foundation makes him optimistic that both Garuda Pertiwi and Putri Nusantara can perform competitively throughout the tournament.

All the athletes have developed very well during their time at the training center. They are eager to learn, quickly absorb the material, and show extraordinary enthusiasm in every training session. That preparation becomes an important asset for us to face teams from six countries. Playing at home certainly provides additional motivation. With the preparations that have been made, we are ready to give our best performance and fight to win the championship title," Timo asserted.

The same optimism was expressed by one of the players, Ayla Dva Khala Ahisma, who is a graduate of the MilkLife Soccer Challenge and the HYDROPLUS Soccer League. Having previously led the HYDROPLUS Strikers to become runners-up in the JSSL Singapore 7’s, Ayla admitted she is proud to return to the pitch in an international-level tournament, and her dream of joining the national team has now come true.

"It feels incredibly proud to have the opportunity to represent Indonesia in an international tournament." Most of the players have often met while participating in the MilkLife Soccer Challenge and the HYDROPLUS Soccer League, so our chemistry has already formed quite well. "Now we just need to maximize the training materials to achieve the best results for Indonesia," said the Cipta Cendikia FA player who won the Best Player award at the HYDROPLUS Soccer League All Stars 2025/2026.

The group draw has already taken place on July 23, 2026. Eight teams were divided into two groups. Group A consists of Garuda Pertiwi (Indonesia), Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Group B will feature Thailand, Singapore, Jordan, and Putri Nusantara (Indonesia). The champions and runners-up of each group will advance to the semifinals in a knockout system before competing for the title in the final match.

In addition to the champion, runner-up, and 3rd place trophies, the Caffino Srikandi Merdeka Cup also competes for individual awards for Best Player, Top Scorer, and Best Goalkeeper, as well as Team Fair Play. This tournament uses an 11 vs 11 match format with a duration of 45 minutes x 2 halves and a field dimension of 68 m x 105 m. Every day before the knockout phase, there will be two matches, and there are two rest days on August 20 and 22.