The US group misplaced to Sweden within the World Cup’s spherical of 16, a disappointing departure for a event favorite.
The coach for the USA Girls’s soccer group, Vlatko Andonovski, has stepped down within the wake of the squad’s disappointing exhibiting on the 2024 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The US’s early exit from the event — knocked out within the spherical of 16 by Sweden — got here after the group took house the bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympics. The showings, each beneath the management of Andonovski, had been thought-about lacklustre given the group’s star-studded lineup and popularity as an worldwide powerhouse.
In an announcement on Thursday, Andonovski referred to as teaching the group the “honor of my life”.
“I’m very optimistic for the way forward for this program, particularly contemplating all of the younger gamers that acquired alternatives over the previous few years who will little question be leaders and affect gamers shifting ahead,” he mentioned.
“Whereas we’re all disenchanted by the end result at this yr’s World Cup, I’m immensely happy with the progress this group has made.”
Twila Kilgore, who served as an assistant beneath Andonovski, will function interim head coach till a alternative is discovered.
The US’s departure within the spherical of 16 — a nail-biting loss that got here all the way down to a ultimate penalty-kick shootout — represented the earliest exit the ladies’s group has ever made in a World Cup.
The group had turn out to be a cultural icon within the US, notably after its profitable push for equal pay with its male counterpart. It had gained the final two World Cups, in 2015 and 2019, and had hoped to cement an period of dominance with a 3rd victory.
However the US’s group stage matches within the 2023 event largely underwhelmed, with the group beating Vietnam 3-0 earlier than drawing towards Portugal and the Netherlands.
The efficiency prompted a blunt rebuke from retired-player-turned-commentator Carli Lloyd, whose hat trick within the 2015 World Cup ultimate led the group to victory.
“The group was disjointed, was not a unit, and the teaching was not what this group wanted,” Lloyd instructed The Athletic information web site.
Andonovski, who rose to prominence teaching within the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League, was already set to have his contract expire on the finish of this calendar yr, in line with Yahoo Sports activities.
ESPN has reported he’s a candidate for the supervisor’s job with the Kansas Metropolis Present.
“We wish to prolong our deepest gratitude to Vlatko for his dedication to the Girls’s Nationwide Group,” US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone mentioned in an announcement.
“We all know he’ll proceed to contribute to the expansion of the ladies’s recreation in the USA and want him properly in his future endeavors.”
Spain’s nationwide group is about to tackle England within the Girls’s World Cup ultimate on Sunday.
