Who is Joakim Alexandersson? The new India U-20, U-17 women’s chief coach

Who is Joakim Alexandersson? The new India U-20, U-17 women’s chief coach

Swedish coach Joakim Alexandersson has been appointed as the chief coach of India Women’s U-20 and U-17 national teams by the All India Football Federation.

Alexandersson will commence his coaching stint in India with a two-month long U-20 national camp beginning in Bengaluru from December 10. The 48-year-old coach has come as part of an agreement between the All India Football Federation and the Swedish Football Association.

The Swedish coach had an extensive playing career as a defender majorly for IF Elfsborg, captaining the club and winning multiple trophies. He is also a former Sweden U-21 international.

Alexandersson began his career as a youth director and coach at IF Elfsborg in 2014 and coached the Elite U-17, U-16, U-15 and U-14 teams of boys and girls, leading to multiple youth league titles and player promotions to senior teams.

The coaches who will assist Alexandersson are Nivetha Ramadoss, Amrutha Aravind, Sradhanjali Samantaray, and Nidhi. The two goalkeeper coaches are KK Hameed, and Dipankar Choudhury.

“I feel very excited about the challenge. I feel India has a big potential. Football is a big sport here and everyone wants to progress, so I think I have a good opportunity here and I’m looking forward to it,” said Alexandersson.

Two friendly matches between India U-20 and Maldives are likely to be played on December 30, and January 2, 2025.

Overall, the AIFF plans to have longer camps for seven to eight months for the women football teams and arrange 10-12 exposure matches a year against competitive opponents.

AIFF Deputy Secretary General Mr. M Satyanarayan, who is also the head of National Teams, said, “This is part of our long-term planning for women’s football. We are preparing to have a two-year long plan with Mr. Alexandersson for Asian Games 2026 and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026.”

However, Alexandersson isn’t the first Swede to be coaching in the Indian women’s football setup. Thomas Dennerby was the head coach of the U-17 side during the 2020 FIFA World Cup in India, and went on to helm the senior national team between 2021-2023