Panaji: Former Italy striker and Venezuela coach Pamela Conti is the All India Football Federation’s top choice to take over the U-17 women’s team for the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup.For the first time this season, three women’s teams have made it to the continental stage, and with FIFA World Cup spots on offer, the federation wants to do “everything possible” to help the team make it to the global stage.
Last week, Amelia Valverde, who guided Costa Rica to two FIFA Women’s World Cups in 2015 and 2023, was confirmed as the senior women’s head coach. Now, AIFF is close to finalising a deal with Conti, who was voted Italy’s Player-of-the-Year in 2004.“We have agreed terms with Conti and should be able to sign the contract in the next couple of days,” a senior AIFF official told TOI on Sunday. “Women’s football is at a crucial stage and a good performance at the Asian level can spur the sport to greater heights in India.”The AIFF is understood to have also contacted a Swedish coach who was assistant to national teams in Sweden and Brazil. However, it’s Conti who has found favour, thanks to her work in Venezuela where she took the national team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2024.Besides qualification to the U-20 World Cup where they drew against South Korea, Conti’s other achievements with Venezuela includes a gold medal at the U-20 South American Games, gold at the U-23 Alba Games and silver at the Central American Games.“Conti has great coaching experience, having been with the Atletico Madrid U-17 team and then the Venezuela women’s national team, who are ranked in the forties in FIFA rankings for the past five years. In Venezuela, she looked after the seniors, U-20 and U-17 teams, and was in-charge of the entire structure,” said another official.Venezuela women are ranked 42 in the latest FIFA rankings, just ahead of Costa Rica.AIFF is expected to ink a contract with Conti till the conclusion of the AFC Asian Cup 2026 in May.As a professional footballer, Conti has 16 years of experience playing in Italy, Spain, Russia, Sweden and the United States. She made her national team debut at 16 and ended with 98 caps, scoring 42 goals, which included two European Championships.India’s previous appearance at the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup was in the inaugural edition in 2005. The draw for the 10th edition of the tournament is scheduled for Feb 12 with the tournament set to take place from April 30 to May 17 in China.Meanwhile, newly-appointed senior women’s national team Alemia Valverde will take charge in Turkey on Monday. She joins the squad along with goalkeeper’s coach Javier Garri and fitness trainer Jose Alberto Salazar, both from Costa Rica.
