Ratu Tisha wants the Indonesian National Team to have a steel mentality, and no longer be branded as mentally weak.

PSSI Deputy Chairman Ratu Tisha has revealed an ambition to build the Indonesia National Team's character, so that the squad will be recognised for having a "steel mentality" when competing in all future matches.

According to Tisha, the term "mentally defeated" is still very commonly used when the public discusses a team's performance following poor results. She wants discussions regarding player mentality to not remain as merely casual opinions or everyday small talk.

Instead, mental aspects within football need to be studied far more seriously through scientific approaches, including the application of sports science.

"We always keep asking: what exactly are we lacking? Oh right, we always end up saying we got mentally defeated. Every single time we chat at coffee stalls discussing football matches, that line 'it's about mentality, this is mentality' always comes up. So instead of just leaving this as idle coffee shop talk forever, let's turn this into proper scientific research," stated Ratu Tisha during the closing press conference for the 2026 Coca-Cola University League at PTIK Stadium, South Jakarta, Sunday 23 August 2026.

University League As Part Of Mentality Development

The University League is one of the platforms Tisha is using to implement this initiative. This inter-campus football competition carries the theme "Football For Mental Health" which emphasizes the importance of mental health within sports.

Tisha assessed that sport can act as a medium to both maintain and build mental health. Within football, various training components can also be researched to measure their impact on players' physical and psychological conditions.

She noted that aspects including physical strengthening, conditioning, and injury prevention are all areas that must continue to be developed in line with advances in football science.

Beyond training programmes, competition rules may also become subjects of research. One example is the sin bin implementation used in the University League, to observe how far this rule can assist players in managing their emotions during live match situations.

For Tisha, this effort is not a programme that will produce immediate visible results. She is instead targeting long-term changes over the coming full decade ahead.

The end goal is that public discourse surrounding the Indonesia National Team will no longer revolve around mentality flaws ahead of important matches. Instead, the Garuda squad is expected to become recognised as a team renowned for strong mental fortitude across all competition levels.

"This is our training ground, our practice space. So that maybe 10 years from now, the talk you hear will be 'Wow wherever this Indonesian team plays, at whatever level, they have the strongest mentality'. That is the vision we are working towards. We want that unshakable mentality, just like how we saw Japan recently, how calm and composed they performed," she explained.

Player Mentality Must Be Forged On The Pitch

Furthermore, Tisha stated that building mentality cannot be sufficiently done only through classroom theory. Players require real match experience in order to be able to apply this knowledge when facing actual high pressure.

She explained that the football pitch is the single most important place to test and build a player's ability to navigate match situations.

For this reason, the University League is not positioned solely as a competition to determine winners. This tournament also serves as a safe space for players to gain competitive match experience and directly train their mental resilience.

"You cannot teach this properly in a classroom. You can talk about it for one or two days at most, after that all the practice happens on the pitch. Because in football, that is where the real learning takes place," she concluded.