KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Former U.S. women's national team coach Vlatko Andonovski is getting a fresh start in a familiar place.
The 47-year-old Andonovski was officially hired as coach of the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League on Monday, taking over a team that reached the title game a year ago but finished 11th out of 12 teams this season. The Current are the replacement for FC Kansas City, which Andonovski led to two NWSL titles before it folded.
The Current fired Matt Potter in April and recently announced that interim coach Caroline Sjoblom would not be retained.
“Kansas City is home,” Andonovski, a two-time NWSL coach of they year, said in a statement. “This club is very ambitious, and they have an ownership group willing to do what it takes to meet their goals. ... The fans here have always been passionate, and it has been so exciting to see them grow and make Kansas City one of the best atmospheres in the NWSL.”
Andonovski, a native of North Macedonia, played for several teams in Europe before moving to the U.S. to play indoor soccer, and eventually embark on a coaching career. He was the first coach of FC Kansas City, leading the club from 2013-17 with back-to-back titles in 2014 and ‘15, before spending the 2018 and ’19 seasons with Reign FC.
Andonovski is best known for his work with the national team, though, and not necessarily for good reasons.
The four-time World Cup champions struggled throughout the tournament this past summer, barely making it into the knockout stage. They wound up playing to a scoreless draw against Sweden in the round of 16, losing in a penalty shootout for their earliest exit ever, and finished with only four goals over the course of the entire tournament.
The U.S., which predecessor Jill Ellis led to back-to-back World Cup titles, had never finished worse than third.
That disappointment came after Andonovski had led the Americans to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and the outcome of those two tournaments perhaps harshly colored a tenure in which he went 51-5-9 in all matches.
It didn't help Andonovski's cause that the national team was in the midst of a generational shift toward younger players, and many of them happened to be dealing with injuries. Mallory Swanson hurt her knee in April, Catarina Macario was not ready for the World Cup after tearing her ACL last year, and veteran Becky Sauerbrunn also was sidelined by a foot injury.
Now, Andonovski takes over a club that went 8-12-2 and failed to make the NWSL playoffs this season, but that has a lot going for it. The club is set to open its own stadium in downtown Kansas City next season, and is led by ambitious owners that include Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“We are thrilled to welcome Vlatko to the Current,” Current co-owners Angie Long and Chris Long said in a statement. “We talk all the time about our desire to be the best women’s football club in the world, with Vlatko that brings us one step closer to that goal. His football acumen and his penchant for developing talent will keep this team competitive on the world stage and make Kansas City a destination club for players across the world.”
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