There will be no honeymoon period for new U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who has been appointed to replace Jill Ellis.
The competition comes quickly as he will be on the sidelines for the USA’s final two matches of the year, against Sweden on Nov. 7 at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 & TUDN) and against Costa Rica on Nov. 10 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 & TUDN).
But it is not like he doesn’t know his player pool. Andonovski, 43, comes to U.S. Soccer after serving as a head coach during all seven seasons of the National Women’s Soccer League, a stint which 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 twice named NWSL Coach of the Year, in 2013 and again after the just completed 2019 season.
He has called up 24 players for his first training camp, including 17 members of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship team.
“This first camp is short with two good games at the end, so after just being hired officially a few days ago, I personally don’t have a lot of time to prepare for the camp or implement any major changes,” said Andonovski.
“Mostly, this is a great opportunity for me to get to know the players, get to know the system, and start building relationships. If there is one goal that I want to accomplish in this first camp is to change the focus from the World Cup and the Victory Tour.
“It was a tremendous summer for this team, but now the approach is different. We have new goals and the most important thing is to shift the mentality and start moving forward because Olympic qualifying is just around the corner.”
Ellis retired from the head coach position after the post-World Cup Victory Tour. The team is 18-1-3 so far this year, with the only loss coming in he first game of the year, against France in Le Havre. She coached the USWNT from 2014-2019, winning two world championships while posting a 106-7-19 record.
Five players from the 2019 World Cup Team were not available for selection due to injuries in defenders Kelley O’Hara, Ali Krieger, Crystal Dunn and Tierna Davidson, and forward Megan Rapinoe. Forward Alex Morgan recently announced that she was pregnant with her first child.
O’Hara, Krieger, Dunn, Davidson and Rapinoe will attend the first few days of training camp as Andonovski greets and works with the team for the first time but will then depart camp to continue their rehabilitations.
In addition, defender Casey Short and midfielder Andi Sullivan return to the roster. Both were called up for the final games of the Victory Tour in early October. Forwards Lynn Williams and Margaret “Midge” Purce also return to a camp roster.
Williams has 19 caps and four international goals but has not played for the USA since the 2018 SheBelieves Cup and the uncapped Purce has not been in with the USA since the summer of 2018.
U.S. WNT Roster – Sweden & Costa Rica Friendlies
GOALKEEPERS (4): Aubrey Bledsoe (Washington Spirit; 0/0), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 3/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 23/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 56/0)
DEFENDERS (6): Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA; 0/0), Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 52/0), Imani Dorsey (Sky Blue FC; 0/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 169/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 30/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 38/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Chicago Red Stars; 86/7), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 93/19), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 77/12), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 36/10), Allie Long (Reign FC; 50/8), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 59/14), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 13/0)
FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 160/32), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 286/118), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 13/2), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 128/49), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 60/18), Margaret Purce (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage; 19/4)