US women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski has resigned, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press
US women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski has resigned, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The move comes less than two weeks after the Americans were knocked out of the Women’s World Cup earlier than ever.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move has not yet been officially announced. An announcement is expected on Thursday.
The four-time champion struggled in the World Cup. A win over Vietnam at the start of the group stage was followed by draws against the Netherlands and Portugal – barely enough to get the team into the knockout stage.
The Americans played well in the round of 16 against Sweden but ultimately fell on penalties after a scoreless tie. The US scored just four goals over the course of the tournament.
The United States has never finished worse than third in previous World Cups.
The 46-year-old Andonovski was named coach of the United States in October 2019, replacing Jill Ellis, who led the United States to back-to-back World Cup titles. He finished 51-5-9 in his time with the team, and 3-2-5 in major tournaments.
After the match against Sweden, Andonovski said that he did not think about his future in the team – his young players. Fourteen players on the roster are making their first World Cup appearance, and 12 of them have never played in a major tournament.
“We have been together for four years. They got their first caps with me, they got their first national team call-up with me,” Andonovski said. “We spent hard times, good times. I don’t want to see them like that. That’s all I thought.”
The United States also finished with a disappointing bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Afterwards, Andonovski turned his attention to developing young players ahead of the World Cup. Some of the players who came out were Sophia Smith, the US Soccer player of the year last year, and Trinity Rodman.
The United States has been bitten by injuries in the run of the tournament, losing key players. Mallory Swanson injured her knee in a friendly in April, and captain Becky Sauerbrunn has not recovered from a foot injury in time.
Promising young forward Catarina Macario tore her ACL playing for her club team Lyon last year and is also not ready to play in the World Cup.
The World Cup will be challenging for many elite teams due to the ever-growing parity of the women’s game. Germany, Brazil and Canada, the winners in Tokyo, were also knocked out early. Sunday’s final between England and Spain in Sydney will give the tournament its first ever winner.
Andonovski was the head coach of Seattle’s OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League when she was hired. In his seven years in the NWSL, he led the now-defunct FC Kansas City from the league’s inception in 2013 until the club folded in 2017, winning two league titles.
Andonovski, a native of Skopje, Macedonia, played for several teams in Europe before embarking on a professional indoor soccer career in the United States.
His predecessor on the US team, Ellis, led the Americans to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. During his five-year tenure, they lost just seven games.
“My hope in this (hiring) process (is) that it’s robust, it’s diverse. It needs to be,” Ellis said Thursday in Sydney. “It’s a critical hire. And I think it’s the right person.
The timeline for finding a replacement is relatively short. The United States has already qualified for the 2024 Olympics in France. Before that, the team has a pair of exhibition matches against South Africa on Sept. 21 in Cincinnati and Sept. 24 in Chicago.
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AP Sports Writer John Pye contributed to this report.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup