Who is new Indian women's football head coach Amelia Valverde? 10 points to know about 39-year-old Costa Rican

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday announced Amelia Valverde as the new head coach of the senior Indian women's football team. The 39-year-old from Costa Rica has already joined the Indian camp in Antalya, Turkiye, as the Blue Tigresses are preparing for the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 in Australia, scheduled for March.

Valverde will join the likes of Crispin Chettri, Priya PV, and Mario Aguiar in the Indian women's football backroom staff. Valverde has brought along goalkeeping coach Eli Avila and strength and conditioning coach Jose Sanchez.

A former goalkeeper herself, Avila has worked alongside Valverde in the Costa Rican women's national team and at CF Monterrey. Sanchez was previously part of the Costa Rican national team setup and club side Deportivo Saprissa. In the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, India have been clubbed with the likes of Japan, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei in Group C.

10 points to know about Amelia Valverde

• A former player herself, Valverde comes with a huge CV in coaching. She began her coaching career in 2011 and went on to manage Costa Rica senior women's football team.
• During her tenure as Costa Rica senior women's team head coach, Valverde guided the team to two FIFA World Cups - 2015 and 2023. Interestingly, those were Costa Rica's only two appearances in the showpiece event.

• Valverde coached Costa Rica from 2015 to 2023, thus becoming the longest-serving manager in the history of Costa Rica women's football. In fact, Valverde was the second-youngest head coach during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup at the age of 28.
• Before becoming the head coach of the Costa Rican women's team, Valverde was the assistant coach of the senior women's and the U20 women's teams, including at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
• During her time with the national team, Valverde guided Costa Rica to a gold medal at the 2017 Central American Games, silver medal at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games, and bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games.
• In 2016, Valverde was named the CONCACAF Female Coach of the Year.
• In 2023, Valverde returned to coaching at the club level, taking charge of Mexican club side CF Monterrey.

• At CF Monterrey, Valverde won the Bicampeonato in 2024 after lifting the Liga MX Femenil Clausura title in July and the Apertura in November. The same year, Valverde won Mexican Balón de Oro for the best coach in the Liga MX Femenil by the Mexican Football Federation.
• With a physical coaching degree from Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Valverde will bring a combination of high-level physiology and disciplined tactical style in the Indian women's team.
• With a reputation of making smaller teams become giant-killers, one can expect nothing but improvement for Indian women's football in the future. Don't be surprised if the Indian team are able to cause an upset in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 in Australia.