Vlatko Andonovski has resigned as coach of the US women’s national team, a source briefed on Andonovski’s situation confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday. The source was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly before the move was officially announced. Soccer outlet 90min first reported The news.
Andonovski has already attracted interest from several teams at international and club level, the source said. US Soccer has finalized an agreement to make assistant coach Twila Kilgore the interim head coach, multiple sources informed of the plans. The US women have two friendlies against South Africa scheduled for September 21 and 24.
The 46-year-old Andonovski oversaw a disappointing World Cup campaign as the team was knocked out at the last-16 stage by Sweden with a 5-4 loss on penalties. It was the first time the USWNT had been eliminated from a World Cup and Andonovski’s decisions throughout the tournament were questioned.
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Andonovski replaced Jill Ellis in October 2019. The US has not won any of its major tournaments under Andonovski, taking bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The team has won four of 10 games with Andonovski at the helm Olympics and World Cup combined. The coach went 51-5-9 overall with the US team.
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Andonovski, a former NWSL Coach of the Year, has drawn criticism regarding squad selection, substitutions (or lack thereof) and the team’s tactical approach to games during the World Cup. Asked about his job situation after losing to Sweden, he said: “I think it’s selfish to think about me, my future, and what I’m going to do if we have 20-year-old players who can go through this. “
It was Kilgore TEACH an assistant coach under Andonovski in February 2022. He was previously an assistant at the Houston Dash, coached various training camps with the US women’s national youth teams and spent 15 years coaching college soccer teams – including leading the women’s team at UC Davis from 2014 to 2019 .Kilgore played collegiate soccer at the University of Arizona.
Andonovski’s exit comes amid a year of change within US Soccer. Sports director Earnie Stewart, as well as US men’s national team general manager Brian McBride, left the federation at the beginning of the year. US Soccer hired former Southampton director of football operations Matt Crocker to replace Stewart in April, and he oversaw the search for the next USMNT coach that eventually brought Gregg Berhalter back to the team.
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(Image: Jan Kruger – FIFA / FIFA via Getty Images)