Interview with Vanessa Arauz: Ecuador Women’s National Team Head Coach

In early May, I sat down with Ecuador women’s national team head coach Vanessa Arauz in the spacious cafeteria on the second floor of the Ecuadorian Football Federation headquarters in Guayaquil. Arauz was just 26 when she led Ecuador into their debut participation in the Women’s World Cup at last year’s tournament in Canada and in the process became the youngest-ever coach to lead a team into a top-ranking FIFA competition.

We discussed her career and personal achievements, the state of women’s football in Ecuador and what is needed to further develop the women’s game in the country.

The interview took place less than three weeks after the powerful earthquake that devastated Ecuador’s coastline. Football, like the majority of Ecuadorian society, was not immune to its effects.

I hope that neither you nor your players have been affected personally by the earthquake?

It has affected the whole nation and it has been a difficult time for all of us. We have a number of players who have been affected personally. One of our players (Kelly Vera, who lives in Manta) lost her father, another (Juliana Lozano, who lives in San Vicente) suffered significant damage to her house and another (Valeria Palacios, who lives in Portoviejo) lives in one of the cities that was worst hit by the earthquake and was badly affected by what she saw. We have tried to provide support. We travelled to each of their homes to talk to them and see how they were doing to try and help them through a difficult time and ensure that it doesn’t become something more serious in the long term.

Going back to your beginnings, did you always want a career in football?

Yes, from around the age of 10, I think. I always liked playing football because I found it really fun. It was exciting and enjoyable, it made me smile and all you needed was a ball. When I was 10 or 11, the question came up in school: What would you like to be when you grow up? I said that I wanted to be a football coach. I wanted to have a direct involvement with football. A few years later I began my studies and eventually qualified as a coach.

Where did you study to become a coach?

I studied here, in this building, in the institute run by the Ecuadorian Football Federation, which is the first institute in Ecuador dedicated solely to football-related studies. The course lasted for three-and-a-half years and we studied everything related to being a coach: anatomy, physiology, sport medicine, technique training, tactics. And at every age level: children, youths and adults. What I learned there helped me a lot when I started my work as a coach.

And were there many women on the coaching course?

No, there were only three of us in a group of around 70 students. Three started and I was the only one to finish. It was the first time the course had been run, so I was the first women to qualify as a coach in Ecuador. Now we are trying to help ex-players become coaches by providing them with scholarships for the course, so we have more women studying to become coaches.

Did you work as an assistant coach before becoming the national team head coach?

I worked as an assistant at a team called Estudiantes del Guayas, a men’s team from Guayaquil who play in the Segunda Categoría (third division). I worked there for a year and it was a nice experience. At the start the players found it hard to take instructions and advice from a women, but I tried to focus on psychological aspects, on giving them confidence in their ability. It was a young team, with players from 15, 18, 20, up to 30 years old. It was difficult at the start — there was definitely a barrier there — but with time it got easier.

Would you like to coach a men’s team in the future?

Not really. I think it would be very hard and I prefer to specialise in women’s football. I think it would be difficult to transfer all the years of study and all the knowledge I have gained about women’s football over to the men’s game. I won’t say that it will never happen, that I wouldn’t do it on the side as a hobby or that I would turn down an opportunity to collaborate with a men’s team, but I think that right now it is best that I dedicate myself 100% to women’s football.

Before you became the head coach you were also an assistant coach for the national team…

Yes. I graduated in 2011 and was immediately offered the position as national team assistant as a reward for the high mark that I received. I was the assistant between 2011 and 2012. Then, in 2013, the head coach left, and the federation were searching for someone to take over. I had completed my studies and although I didn’t have that much experience as an assistant, I had enough to convince them to give me the opportunity to take over.

Did you feel ready?

Frankly, no. I was only 24 years old and I assumed that I would be 30 or 35 before I got the opportunity to coach a national team. I thought that I was ready in terms of what I knew about the game on a cognitive level but I knew that I didn’t have enough experience. However, people said to me that there was never going to be a perfect time to take it on. I could have waited and never again had the opportunity. Many people in my circle, including my parents, told me to take it. They felt that I could do it. So I said yes.

Do you have people with more experience within your coaching team?

When I took on the job I was allowed to choose my assistant. I chose Diego Barreto, whom I knew well having studied with him at the institute. The rest of the coaching staff is comprised of people who were already here under the previous coach. Among them are people who have coached at the Pan-American games and who have worked with male national teams. They have a lot of experience and are always there to help me make the right decisions. It isn’t easy for a 40 or 50 year old to accept the authority of a young women but they have been willing to do so and as a result there is an excellent working relationship amongst the coaching staff.

Under your management, Ecuador reached the World Cup for the first time in their history. In the decisive match of the Copa América (of 2014), in which Ecuador needed to defeat Argentina to qualify for a play-off for a World Cup place, how did you feel when Argentina established a two-goal lead within half an hour?

It was difficult. We had already lost against Brazil and Colombia, but we are a team who never give up, who always try to give our best. I really identify with the Atletico Madrid team of Diego Simeone. A lot of people compare us because we don’t always play beautiful football but we always play with a lot of heart, a lot of courage. We don’t have a lot of time to do our work, the players don’t play for professional clubs and they don’t have many tournaments to play in. It is difficult because here we only have 200 or 300 players to chose from, whereas most other countries have thousands. So we have always tried to instil the importance of effort and belief.

In the match against Argentina, what we did at half-time was to ask the team to summon all of the feelings they had experienced over the previous year building up to the tournament — the sacrifices they had made, the effort they had put in, the time they had spent away from their families — and to focus all of that energy on turning the match around. We were 2–1 down at half-time. We equalised 15 minutes after the break and later scored again to win 3–2.

Afterwards came the play-off against Trinidad and Tobago…

It was a very difficult tie. The first leg was played in Quito, where we trained prior to the match. The interesting thing about that tie was that we had never spent so much time preparing for one opponent. We normally have three or four months to prepare for a tournament. But for this tie we had five months to prepare for two matches. I had the opportunity to travel to the United States to watch the final stages of the CONCACAF qualifiers. I was able to watch Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, United States and Costa Rica in person. I brought back a number of videos and other information that allowed us to analyse Trinidad and Tobago and show clips of them to the girls in a way that isn’t normally possible in women’s football here because there is a shortage of footage. That was very interesting for us.

The match here ended 0–0. It was very hard match and many people thought that if we had been unable to win here it would be near impossible to do so in Trinidad and Tobago. It was an impressive setting there. The stadium was completely full — full of people ready to celebrate Trinidad and Tobago qualifying for the World Cup. It was a great experience and we scored the winning goal in stoppage time to qualify.

How important was qualifying for the World Cup for women’s football in Ecuador?

It changed the way that women’s football is viewed here. Parents began to see it as something worthwhile. In the past, some parents saw football as a waste of time, something that wouldn’t lead to anything. We are now able to secure grants to run training programs for young girls, among other things. People here now support the national team.

Was the World Cup a good experience, despite the results?

It was really nice. It was something we hadn’t experienced before. When we arrived in Canada we were very impressed by the quality of the stadiums and the organisation of the tournament. It was completely different from what we experience in local tournaments here in South America. Although things didn’t go well against Cameroon and Switzerland, the latter of which was the hardest moment of the tournament for us, each match was instructive in displaying the difference between us and the European nations and those from other continents in terms of development. It showed us where we are, where they are and how much work we need to do to reach their level. We understood that we needed to do a thorough analysis and put in an awful lot of hard work in order to change the situation.

And when we played against Japan, even though we lost, it was gratifying to see us put in so much effort and only lose 1–0 to a team who had won the tournament in 2011 and would go on to reach the final that year. It was a very defensive match but one that filled us with a lot of pride.

How is the state of women’s football in Ecuador?

Our league is an amateur league; it is not professional. There is insufficient money to pay the players and barely enough to run the league. We work at three levels. There is the Ascenso (third division), which has 12 clubs. They contest a short, month-long tournament for promotion to Serie B (second division). Serie B also has 12 clubs, of which two go up to Serie A (first division); they are replaced by two teams from the Ascenso. The Serie B tournament lasts for two months. Then there is Serie A, which lasts for three or four months. The champion of that tournament qualifies for the Copa Libertadores (South America’s equivalent of the Champions League). We have selected many players from Serie A. It began in 2013 and it is very important for us, as it is where the majority the team who played in the Copa América came from.

So the majority of the players also have regular jobs?

Yes. The majority of the adults have jobs and it is sometimes difficult for them to get time off to join up with the national team. They are not paid by us nor by their clubs. So they cannot train regularly or keep themselves fit to the same degree that a full-time player could. Here it is something to do for fun, as your passion.

Do the big clubs in Ecuador, like Barcelona or Emelec, invest in women’s football?

No. At the moment, they still have problems funding their youth academies for men’s football. With that in mind, it is difficult for them to invest in women’s football. There still hasn’t been a strong project put together to request that each professional club sets up a women’s team. We hope that one day it will happen. If it doesn’t, then we will try to initiate a project with FIFA in order to make our current championship a professional one. We want to give our players the opportunity to earn a decent living from football.

So are there any clubs in the women’s league who are part of a professional men’s club?

Most are distinct. There is one club that is part of an amateur men’s club but most of the teams were set up solely to compete in the women’s league.

How do you go about identifying players for the national team? I imagine it is a more grass-roots process than it is in the professional men’s game?

We spent a lot of time travelling around to watch players in person, in matches or in training sessions. The coaches at the clubs also help us out by recommending players. They get to work with them more regularly than we do and can keep a closer eye on their progress. So we try to stay in contact to find out which players we should be tracking. It is difficult because we don’t have many videos or statistics to go on. We are trying to change that now by creating a database of eligible players, with information like age, height, weight, injury history, position, favoured foot, tactical and technical abilities, personality, etc. We are doing this so that we can take a more structured approach to our work. When we call players up we can track their progress against our records and this should help us a lot in making the most out of the players available to us.

Do you think there are players in Ecuador who are good enough to play abroad?

Yes. We have one at the moment, Monica Quinteros, who played at the World Cup and is currently playing for a team in Israel called Maccabi Kiryat Gat. She has already scored 11 goals for them in the league. The team has a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. If they do, she will become the first female player from this country to play in that competition. She is already the first to move abroad to a professional team. We have four or five players who are at universities in the United States but I think there are a lot of talented players here who could play in Europe. I think we have some very good players.

Is there a coach you look up to as a reference point? Who you admire?

In the women’s game: Pia Sundhage, the current coach of Sweden. I have been following here since her time in charge of the United States, in the World Cup and in the Olympics. Her work is very interesting, particularly the manner in which she manages a group. In the men’s game: Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid. I identify strongly with the way in which he gets the best out of each and every player while still ensuring that his team functions well as a collective. Those are the two coaches who have been reference points for me.

Are there any specific tactical points from either of them that you have tried to apply to your team?

I like how Simeone’s teams are just as comfortable pressing high or in a medium block as they are in dropping back and playing on the counter-attack. Atletico are a very well-organised team, they work hard and always maintain their concentration. Simeone always says: “The team who wins is the one who commits the least errors.”

What is the most difficult aspect of your work?

I think it is the emotional aspect; trying to form a united group. We have players of various ages and from differing economic backgrounds, each of whom have experienced different things in life or just lead very different lives to one another. I am of a similar age to most of them and when there are disagreements it can be hard for them to respect or support the opinion of someone who could easily be one of their team-mates. But I think we have made a lot of progress in this area. We use things like motivational videos, talks and group activities to try and bring them together and establish the best way of motivating each individual player. We find this work very interesting.

What about when you have to release a player from the squad?

Yes, that too. We always try to make sure that we don’t make any mistakes when choosing one player over another, but it is difficult. There isn’t much difference in quality between the players and it’s not like the men’s national team, where there are six, seven or eight viable players for each position. We usually only have two or three and the difference between them is minimal. The deciding factor is often something relatively minor: a small tactical or technical skill that they struggle with. It pains us because we know that all of the players have a job or go to university and that they have to make sacrifices in order to play for us. It feels like we are denying them their dream. But we always tell them not to give up and that other opportunities will come. Some take it well but some don’t (laughs).

What are the main advantages and disadvantages of your age?

The main advantage is that I can understand almost everything the players are thinking and feeling.. what they are going to do. I can relate more easily to what is happening in their personal lives, problems with their family, things like that. It is easier to talk with more authority to the younger players. I am very passionate about what I do. I give all of my time and all of my effort to this work; I give 100%. And that is easier to do at my age. The main disadvantage is that there are some people who don’t view me as an adult. It is not just about my age but also how I look. I am 27 years old but I can sometimes look younger than that. Therefore, people sometimes treat me like I’m a girl rather than a professional coach. Respect is something that I will gain with time and through the quality of my work. I never expect someone to respect me without knowing my work. Once they’ve seen my work they can decide whether they respect me. That is how you gain respect.

Do you have a desire to coach aboard in the future?

Yes. I would like to have the opportunity to experience a more professional football environment in order to later return to my country and try to apply what I’ve learned. At the moment, I am trying to organise some internships, and I am also seeking to improve my knowledge by taking courses. All of this in order to continue improving the level of the football here in Ecuador.

What are you working towards now?

Next year we have the Bolivarian Games in Colombia, which is a Latin American competition, with teams from South America and some from elsewhere in the Americas. We will soon start to prepare for that tournament. Not on the training pitch just yet but with statistical and other preparatory work in our offices.

Do you feel confident that you will have a team capable of qualifying for the next World Cup in 2019?

It will be quite hard for us because we are currently overseeing a generational change. The group that qualified for the last World Cup featured a number of players who had been involved with the national team for some time. Some of them have already decided to retire or to dedicate more time to their regular jobs and less time to football. That has nearly halved the group that we took to the World Cup. We are therefore embarking on a project to find replacements and that is a difficult process. It is hard to say right now whether we will have a group that is capable of qualifying again in 2019. We are doing a lot of work with the younger age groups, the Under-17s and Under-20s. There is a lot of work to be done but there is certainly a chance that we will again qualify at some point in the future.

Are there players with Ecuadorian roots playing in other countries? For example in Spain or in the United States?

We haven’t heard of many in Spain. There was one girl from who came over from Spain. She lived there but had dual nationality with Ecuador. She came and had a trial but she was unable to join up with us because her university wouldn’t allow her time off to train and play. We have two from Canada and four or five from the United States.

Do you have a good relationship with the coaching staff of the male senior national team and those of the youth categories?

Yes, with both. We talk a lot. I sometimes ask for advice or ask them to come and watch our training sessions in order to provide some feedback on what we can improve from a technical or tactical standpoint. The coaching staff from the senior national team have provided us with a lot of assistance. We worked together in carrying out physical tests on the squad to help us improve the physical conditioning of our players. The head of the youth teams has also helped us out a lot when it comes to technical matters: what we can improve, which exercises can help us to do so, etc. There is a lot of collaboration.

What was more important to you: The Guinness World Record (for becoming the youngest-ever coach at a top-ranking FIFA competition) or helping Ecuador qualify for the World Cup for the first time?

The qualification was more important to me. The fact that I was the youngest-ever coach at a World Cup was nice but it was a question of opportunity — almost a coincidence. I didn’t set out with the goal of achieving it. But I do think that it was an important achievement because it ensured that Ecuador’s first qualification for a Women’s World Cup was noted in the Guinness Book of Records. It was a further reward for our work and something that raised the profile of our women’s team.

I understand that you were the first female baby to be delivered in the clinic in which you were born?

Yes, that’s right. It was a new clinic that had just been opened in Quito. There had only been around 15 or 16 babies delivered there at that point and all of them were boys. I was the first girl. It was the first of many firsts in my life.

And what will be the next first that you achieve?

I would like to become a women’s football instructor for FIFA. It is something I have always been working towards and if it happens it will be another first because while there are female instructors at the local association level, there isn’t a FIFA-assigned women’s football instructor in Ecuador.