José Letelier

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Letelier and the second or maternal family name is Henríquez.

José Antonio Letelier Henríquez (born 23 May 1966) is a Chilean football coach and former professional goalkeeper. He was the head coach of the Chile women's national football team from 2015 to 2023. He is currently in charge of Peruvian side Alianza Lima (women).

José Letelier

Letelier as coach of Chile in 2021
Personal information
Full name	José Antonio Letelier Henríquez
Date of birth	(1966-05-23) 23 May 1966 (age 59)
Place of birth	Santiago, Chile
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Alianza Lima (women) (manager)
Youth career
1979–1982	Universidad de Chile
1983–1986	Colo-Colo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1991	Colo-Colo
1988	→ Alianza Lima (loan)
1989	→ Deportes Valdivia (loan)
1991–1992	Atlético Morelia
1993	Huachipato
1994–1995	Deportes Linares
1996	Municipal Las Condes
1997–1999	Deportes Linares
Managerial career
	Colo-Colo (youth)
2010–2015	Colo-Colo (women)
2015–2023	Chile (women)
2015	Chile U20 (women)
2016	Chile U17 (women)
2023–	Alianza Lima (women)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Letelier started playing in the youth categories of Universidad de Chile, before switching to rivals Colo-Colo where he was taken on as a professional in 1987.^[1] In 1988 Colo-Colo sent Letelier and three other young players – Francisco Huerta,Parcko Quiroz and René Pinto – on loan to Alianza Lima, whose team had perished in the 1987 Alianza Lima plane crash.^[2] After a further loan at Deportes Valdivia, he returned to Colo-Colo and understudied Daniel Morón and Marcelo Ramírez in the club's 1991 Copa Libertadores-winning squad.

He was signed by Mexican club Atlético Morelia, where he played in 1991 and 1992, coinciding with his compatriot Juan Gutiérrez.^[3] He then completed his career back in Chile, with stints at Huachipato and Deportes Linares.^[4]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Letelier trained as a PE teacher and obtained his coaching licences from the Instituto Nacional del Fútbol (INAF). He began coaching goalkeepers in Colo-Colo's boys' teams, then took charge of the club's women's section in 2010. He won the Chilean women's football championship ten times in succession, the last nine under the Apertura and Clausura format. When Colo-Colo won the 2012 Copa Libertadores Femenina, Letelier became the first individual to be part of winning squads in both the male and female Libertadores tournaments.^[5]

In June 2015 he was appointed technical director of the Chile women's national football team, with his first task to prepare an under 20 team for the 2015 South American U-20 Women's Championship.^[6] The next year, he also led the under-17's in the 2016 South American Championship.^[7] When the senior women's national team played their first fixture in three years in May 2017, they thrashed hapless Peru 12–0.^[8] At the 2018 Copa América Femenina, Letelier steered hosts Chile to a runners-up finish, securing qualification to their first ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019.^[9]

In October 2023, he assumed as the coach of the Alianza Lima women's team.^[10]