USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski resigns after disappointing World Cup: reports
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — U.S. Women’s National Team coach Vlatko Andonovski has resigned, reports say, after the team’s earliest exit ever from the Women’s World Cup.
U.S. Soccer has not officially commented on the reports.
Andonovski — who previously coached for Shawnee Mission North, University of Missouri-Kasnas City and FC Kansas City — went 51-5-9 during his time with the U.S. women’s team.
He took over the job for Jill Ellis, who led the Americans to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019.
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This year’s World Cup campaign was certainly a disappointment compared to that.
The USWNT fell to Sweden on penalties after a scoreless draw in the Round of 16 earlier this month. There was backlash on social media and among pundits following the match, critical of Andonovski’s tactics.
“I never came into the job, never came into the locker room with the mindset that I wanted to do something to save my job,” Andonovski said after the loss.
“I was always focused on doing a good job, doing my job in the best possible manner to prepare this team for the challenges they have in front of them, and to prepare them to represent our country.”
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Overall, the U.S. team appeared uncharacteristically timid and disorganized throughout this World Cup. The two-time defending champions squeaked by in the group stage with just a win against Vietnam and disappointing draws against Netherlands and Portugal.
But The Athletic reports Andonovski has already drawn interest from multiple international and club teams, according to a source with the team.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
