Thailand women’s national coach Futoshi Ikeda believes that his team have the ability to claim the ASEAN Women’s MSIG Serenity Cup™ 2025, which kicks off in Vietnam this week, and reinforce their position as the top team in Southeast Asian.
The Thais have been a dominant force in ASEAN women’s football over the past two decades, winning a record-setting four ASEAN Women’s Championships and appearing in the last five finals of the region’s premier international women’s football tournament.
They also sparkled on the continental stage, reaching the AFC Women’s Asian Cup semi-finals in 2018 and qualifying for the Women’s World Cup twice in 2015 and 2019.
The Thais are now looking to build for the future with a new generation of players and Ikeda was brought in last January to oversee the team. He sees the MSIG Serenity Cup™ as a key competition in the development of his charges.
“The MSIG Serenity Cup™ is very important for the Thai women’s national team, as it provides valuable experience, variations in play, and contributes to the growth of both the players and our team,” said the former Japan women’s national coach.
“Although there are challenges with player call-ups, we will give it our best. We value each match as we aim to develop the players and the team.
“We will fight with the goal of winning the championship.”
Things have not quite gone according to plan so far for Ikeda, whose side will miss out on the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup after they were beaten 2-1 by India in Chiang Mai last month. While the 54-year-old was disappointed by the setback, he feels that it was a good learning experience for his players.
“As a team, we made various preparations, but we were unable to achieve our goal of advancing through the qualifiers,” said Ikeda.
“We are not satisfied with our performance but the attitude of the players and their commitment to our style of play can be evaluated positively.
“I have high expectations for all our young players. They offer hope for Thai women’s football.
“While they lack experience, there have been matches where they have performed well. However, it is necessary for them to be able to deliver those performances more consistently.”
Thailand have been placed in Group A for the MSIG Serenity Cup™ and will play all of their matches at Lạch Tray Stadium in Hải Phòng. They kick off their campaign against Indonesia on Wednesday 6 August, before meeting Cambodia on 9 August and hosts Vietnam on 12 August.
The top teams from each group will advance to the cross-over semi-finals on 16 August. The final will be played at Lạch Tray Stadium on 19 August.
Share now
