Beni Rubido on coaching Costa Rica women's national team

Lacking the skills to make the grade as a player, Rubido cut his teeth in the industry via various roles within the Madrid Football Association, before dedicating himself to the women’s game. In this fascinating interview, Rubido gives an insight into his work as Costa Rica’s head coach. He delves into the coaching programme that is successfully identifying and improving players from a younger age. He goes on to outline how he likes his teams to play and how he is demanding more from players in terms of aggression and effort. He also describes his footballing philosophy and methodologies and how he prepares for upcoming tournaments.

Some of Rubido’s key influences and focus areas:

• Technical knowledge gained from FIFA’s ecosystem analysis

• FIFA Talent Coach Programme and the implementation of elite centres in the country

• Identifying talent at an earlier age and working on improving players

Part 1: Rubido’s pathway into coaching and the FIFA Talent Coach Programme
In the first part of the interview, Rubido discusses his pathway into coaching. Knowing that he did not possess the ability to become a top footballer, he began working for the Madrid Football Association, gaining knowledge from a variety of roles. Rubido then made the move into the women’s game, which opened many doors, including the chance to work with FIFA, and ultimately led to his position as head coach in Costa Rica. He goes on to discuss some of the things on which he has focused in his current position, as well as highlighting the FIFA Talent Coach Programme and the big impact that it is having on how football is seen not only in Costa Rica, but also in the whole of Central America, having also reshaped his own perceptions.

Part 2: Playing and training methodologies
In the second section of the interview, Rubido explains that he does not consider himself to be a dogmatist and therefore is not wedded to any particular idea or system. However, he likes his current Costa Rica team to play in a certain way and discusses how they should operate in and out of possession, being able to adapt to changes of tempo in defence and playing more directly through the lines in attack. The young head coach goes on to state that his favoured formation is 4-4-2 due to its versatility, which allows players to move out wide or play narrower, for instance, depending on their profile.

Rubido then talks about instilling a philosophy of high performance on the pitch, explaining that he, his backroom staff and coaches in general are becoming more demanding of players. For example, although mistakes are part of the process, players must learn to overcome them to meet minimum standards. He states that, as there is now more emphasis on the analytical and technological sides of things, there is greater attention to detail and this, he feels, has changed the team for the better.

Part 3: Preparation for tournaments such as the Concacaf W Gold Cup
In the concluding part of the interview, Rubido explains how preparation can be split into two stages. The first makes use of analysis of the displays at recent competitions to determine how the team are shaping up and what individual players need to do to improve. The second is orientated towards the standards of international football and includes looking at FIFA World Cup™ and FIFA Women’s World Cup™ reports, for instance. Although Costa Rica may be lacking in certain areas, Rubido points out that organisation and the physical aspects of the game can help them to match other teams. Effort and intensity are other areas that he and his staff are working on to close the gap on the top teams.