Hu Jie’s charges have enjoyed fervent home support in their bid to win the title for the first time and while morale is high after their perfect Group A campaign, he is keen for them to remain grounded.

“There are still areas in which we can improve despite having won all three matches, so we need to analyse them and figure out how to be better,” he said.

China PR will have cause to be wary against a dangerous Indonesian side, who they defeated 4-0 at the NSDF Women’s Futsal Championship in September 2024 and then 3-2 in a friendly last month.

The Southeast Asians gave Japan a mighty scare in their opening Group C match - a 5-2 defeat - before holding Thailand, the highest FIFA-ranked side in Asia, to a 0-0 draw and then batting Bahrain aside 5-1 to advance as the best third-placed team.

Head coach Luis Estrela noted their improvement throughout the group stage and asserted that they hold no fear for the quarter-finals, which they have reached for the second edition in a row.

“Our strength is our team spirit,” the 46-year-old said. “We will respect our opponent, but we believe very much in our capacity, in our work… And I promise to the people of Indonesia that in each game, we will play for the win.”

In order to emerge victorious, Indonesia will have to figure out how to cope with a China PR side that has showcased their strength in depth. The joint-top scoring team - alongside Hong Kong, China - with 11 goals to date, eight different players have found the back of the net and Hu is confident that they are well equipped to adapt to any match situation.

“Both of our lineups have fared well in all three matches, as well as getting fairly equal playing time, so this bodes well for us as it means we are capable of deploying different tactics and strategies to deal with varying opponent approaches,” the 38-year-old said.

Estrela, who paid tribute to coaching staff and playing members involved in their qualifying journey but did not make it to Hohhot, is of the firm belief that Indonesia will be able to rise up to the challenge.

“I'm very glad to be here with this group of athletes… So this result (reaching the knockout stage) is for everybody (who helped us to get here),” said the Portuguese, who was appointed in December 2024. “When I arrived, I promised to the Football Association of Indonesia that we will always play to win. 

“I don't know if we will always win, but we can promise that we will have a winning mentality, and the team will work very hard; sometimes, training is much harder than the matches. So we will keep going.”

China PR v Indonesia
Venue: Hohhot Sports Centre
Kick-off: Tuesday, 17:00 (UTC+8)