Vlatko Andonovski appointed as new head coach of USA women's soccer team

Vlatko Andonovski on Monday (local time) was appointed as the new head coach of the USA women's soccer team.

With this, he became the ninth head coach of the US women's football team.

"First, I want to sincerely thank USA's soccer president Carlos Cordeiro, our women's national team general manager Kate Markgraf and soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart for this opportunity. It is a huge honor and I am very excited to get started with this group of players and staff as we work towards continued success for this program. All of the talented coaches and players that have come before have built a legendary tradition of excellence and I am committed to working very hard to continue to move this program forward," Andonovski said in an official statement.

 

The 43-year-old Andonovski has been given the rein of USA's soccer team after serving as head coach during all seven seasons of the National Women's Soccer League. His stint included two championships with FC Kansas City (2014 and 2015).

He spent five seasons with FC Kansas City (2013-2017) and the last two with Reign FC (2018-2019).

He was also named NWSL Coach of the Year twice (2013,2019).

U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro expressed happiness on the appointment of Andonovski and called him one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of NWSL history.

"We are thrilled to welcome Vlatko to the U.S. soccer family. As one of the most accomplished coaches in the NWSL history, he has proven he can help world-class players reach their peak, inspire his teams and win championships. He is widely respected by players and leaders across our soccer community, and he has the work ethic and winning mentality to guide the greatest women's soccer program in history into their next era of success," Cordeiro said.

Andonovski will begin his job immediately as he will choose a roster for the USA's final two games of 2019, against Sweden on November 7 in Columbus, Ohio and Costa Rica on November 10 in Jacksonville, Fla.

His first major competition will be the Concacaf Women's Olympic qualifying tournament which is set to take place during January-February next year.

Andonovski is a former professional player who played six seasons for clubs in the Macedonian Football League. He came to the United States in 2000 when he signed with the Wichita Wings of the National Professional Soccer League and later played with the Kansas City Comets, California Cougars and Philadelphia Kixx of the Major Indoor Soccer League.