After guiding Gotham FC to domestic and continental success last year, Juan Carlos Amoros is determined to lead the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club to global glory in 2026. The Spaniard burnished his reputation as one of the leading coaches in women’s football after securing both the NWSL title and Concacaf W Champions Cup last season. Now Amoros has set his sights on lifting the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™ in London.
Following a productive training camp in Sotogrande, Spain, Gotham are preparing to take on Brazilian powerhouses Corinthians in their semi-final at Brentford Stadium on 28 January. The prize is a meeting with either Arsenal or ASFAR in the final at Arsenal Stadium on 1 February, and the opportunity to be crowned the first global champions in women’s club football.
Ahead of the Corinthians clash, Amoros spoke to FIFA about Gotham’s preparations, the challenge of facing Brazilian opposition and the wider impact of the Women’s Champions Cup.
Juan Carlos Amoros: Making sure that we are ready to be ourselves. We were very strategic in how we approached this winter break. We didn’t change a lot of the players, we trust the group of players that we have, and are continuing where we left it. We spoke about continuing from last season instead of having a pre-season. I think that is the key, making sure that we are going to be ourselves in the tournament. I think that is going to be the difference-maker for us – having our identity.
Really well. We are lucky to have a great group of humans, not only a great group of players, and that really shows in these long camps when you are away from family, friends for such a long period of time. We were in a very good place in Spain, it was the second year in a row that we’ve been there, and it prepared us well last year. So it is good preparation for what is about to come.
The competitiveness in the squad is always extremely high. That is something that goes in the Gotham DNA. The players are eager to win and ready to win. It is obviously a change in scenery and the competition is getting closer – that is something that we all can feel but in a good way. We worked really hard to be in this place. It is something that we are very excited about and ready for.
It is the understanding of defending and attacking together. We call it structural fluidity. In our defensive structure, everyone is super committed to work hard for each other and to be able to be offensive in those defensive positions. On the ball, we let our players express themselves. We have brilliant players in this roster that can make magical moments happen. We try to create a framework for them to able to express themselves and do that.
They are a fantastic team, not only now but historically they have been obviously the best team in South America for a very long time. I think they have that winning mentality together with individual brilliance, as well as more experienced players and young players coming up. We have players in our roster from Brazil and we know that Brazil is a very special country, they are very competitive but they also do it in style. It’s going to be a really difficult challenge and I hope that is a great game.
That would be a dream come true. This kind of competition is something that women’s football at the club level has been shouting for for a long time. It is would be really exciting for us to be the first club to write their name in history. That was the approach we took when we were in the semi-finals and final in Monterrey, about being the first team to win the [Concacaf W Champions Cup]. This is a bigger stage because it’s worldwide and that’s where we want to be. We want Gotham to be the best club in the world.
