Ristianto to Join Indonesian Women’s National Team for Pair of International Friendlies
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Cornell women’s soccer rising sophomore defender Kayla Ristianto will join the Indonesian National Women’s Soccer Team for a pair of international friendlies against Hong Kong this upcoming week, the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) released Tuesday morning.
The first match between Indonesia and Hong Kong will be held on Thursday, July 11, at 6 p.m. HKT (6 a.m. ET) and the latter match occurring on Sunday, July 14, also at 6 p.m. HKT (6 a.m. ET).
“Very proud of Kayla for earning this opportunity to learn and grow, and incredibly excited for her to continue to shine on this next stage with the Indonesia National Team,” Cornell women’s soccer head coach Rob Ferguson said.
Ristianto is coming off a freshman campaign in which appeared in nine matches and being apart of the Big Red’s starting XI four times. The 5-foot-4 product from Dallas notched her first collegiate point against UAlbany in the Big Red’s 4-0 clean sheet over the Great Danes last Oct. 17, recording an assist on the first of the Big Red’s three second-half goals.
Eleven of the 24 players have yet to register a cap with the Indonesian National Team, including Ristianto.
“I am very satisfied with their performance so far at training camp,” said Indonesia head coach Satoru Mochizuki through translation. “Against Hong Kong, to be honest, I don’t know their strength and game yet, but what is certain is whoever the opponent is, my goal is to give victory to Indonesia.”
Indonesia is looking to extend its win streak in international friendlies as the club has won its last four international friendlies and is unbeaten across its last six friendlies (5-0-1), dating back to 2022. In its lone friendly of 2022, Indonesia edged Singapore, 2-1, on Oct. 10, before going 1-0-1 against Saudi Arabia in 2023, playing to a 1-1 draw on Feb. 22, before posting a 1-0 victory four days later. This year, Indonesia has won all three of its friendlies, having defeated Singapore, 5-1, on May 28, and posting triumphs over Bahrain on June 8 and 11, respectively, by 3-2 and 3-0 scores.
