Pamela Conti, coach of India's under-17 women's team, said it's always easier to work with younger players, as they have the hunger to learn and are receptive to new ideas.

"I think it's simpler when you work with young players, because they want to grow. They want to learn more. A senior national team player sometimes thinks she is the best," Conti, the 44-year-old Italian, told The Telegraph during an interview facilitated by the All India Football Federation.

Conti will guide the Indian under-17 players in the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup to be held in Suzhou, China, from May 1 to 17. India are in Group B along with Japan, Australia and Lebanon. India play their first match against Australia on May 2.

"We are in a tough group. Japan and Australia are two of the best teams in the world, not just in Asia. But we go there with a clear plan, we want to do our best. We will not just sit back and defend. We are going to play football," she promised.

After Conti took charge in January, the under-17 team switched from the 4-4-2 formation to 4-3-3.

"We needed some time to change things. In the first tournament in Nepal, they did not believe in me, because we lost the first match. They are young and a little bit afraid. It was my job to make them understand. And then we beat Bangladesh, and from there on the players started trusting me more," Conti said.

Conti's Under-17 girls won the SAFF Under-19 Women’s Championship, defeating Bangladesh U19s 4-0 in Pokhara, Nepal in February.

Conti, who won 90 caps for the Italian national team between 1998 and 2013, and coached the Venezuelan senior women's team from 2019 to 2024, said the appointment of Marie-Louise Eta as the interim head coach of Bundesliga side Union Berlin is a big boost for women coaches. Eta is the first woman to manage a men's team in the Bundesliga and any of Europe's top-five leagues.

"I hope in the next few years, women's coaches for men's teams will be a normal thing. For us, it's important to create the same opportunity. In Italy, these days, no woman participates in the pro license course. If you don't do that, then it's difficult for a woman to be the next best coach in the world," the Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti fan said.

Conti's heart broke after Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. "It's been 12 years since Italy qualified for the World Cup. We don't have a good new generation of players. I think too many foreign players are hindering our growth. We have to think about our own young players. And for that we need drastic changes."