US women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski resigns after early World Cup exit, AP source says

U.S. ladies’s nationwide staff coach Vlatko Andonovski has resigned, an individual acquainted with the choice informed The Related Press on Wednesday.

The transfer comes lower than two weeks after the People had been knocked out of the Girls’s World Cup sooner than ever earlier than.

The particular person spoke to the AP on situation of anonymity as a result of the transfer had not been formally introduced. An announcement was anticipated Thursday.

The four-time match champions struggled all through the World Cup. A victory over Vietnam to kick off the group stage was adopted by a pair of attracts in opposition to Netherlands and Portugal — barely sufficient to get the staff into the knockout stage,

The People performed nicely within the Spherical of 16 in opposition to Sweden, however in the end fell on penalties after a scoreless tie. The U.S. scored simply 4 targets over the course of the match.

The USA had by no means completed worse that third on the World Cup.

The 46-year-old Andonovski was named coach of america in October 2019, taking on for Jill Ellis, who led america to back-to-back World Cup titles. He completed 51-5-9 throughout his time with the staff, and was 3-2-5 in main tournaments.

Following the match in opposition to Sweden, Andonovski mentioned he wasn’t desirous about his future with the staff — solely his younger gamers. Fourteen gamers on the U.S. roster had been showing of their first World Cup, and 12 of them had by no means performed in a serious match.

“We spent 4 years collectively. They obtained their first caps with me, they obtained their first national-team call-ups with me,” Andonovski mentioned. “We spent robust occasions, good occasions. I don’t wish to see them like that. That’s all I take into consideration.”

It wasn’t simply the World Cup that harm Andonovski’s possibilities of conserving his job. The USA additionally completed with a disappointing bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympics.

Following the Olympics, Andonovski turned his consideration on creating younger gamers forward of the World Cup. A number of the gamers who emerged had been Sophia Smith, final yr’s U.S. Soccer Participant of the Yr, and Trinity Rodman.

The USA was bitten by accidents within the run-up to the match, dropping a pair of key gamers. Mallory Swanson injured her knee throughout a pleasant in April, and captain Becky Sauerbrunn could not recuperate from a foot damage in time.

Promising younger ahead Catarina Macario tore her ACL enjoying for her membership staff Lyon final yr and in addition wasn’t able to play within the World Cup.

The World Cup was difficult for a lot of elite groups due to the ever-growing parity within the ladies’s recreation. Germany, Brazil and Canada, the winners in Tokyo, additionally obtained knocked out early. Sunday’s closing between England and Spain in Sydney will give the match a first-time winner.

Andonovski was head coach of Seattle’s OL Reign within the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League when he was employed. Throughout his seven years within the NWSL, he led the now-defunct FC Kansas Metropolis from the league’s inception in 2013 till the membership folded in 2017, profitable two league titles with the staff.

Andonovski, a local of Skopje, Macedonia, performed for a number of groups in Europe earlier than embarking on an expert indoor soccer profession in america.

His predecessor on the U.S. staff, Ellis, was named coach of the staff in 2014 and led the U.S. to eight general match titles, together with victories on the World Cup in 2015 and 2019. Over the course of her tenure, america misplaced simply seven matches.

Now the method will begin to discover a substitute, and the timeline is comparatively brief. The USA has already certified for the 2024 Olympics in France.

Earlier than that, the staff has a pair of exhibition matches in opposition to South Africa on Sept. 21 in Cincinnati and Sept. 24 in Chicago.

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AP World Cup protection: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup