US show no complacency in new coach’s excellent start
World champions look even more formidable under Andonovski, writes Luke Edwards
The Americans have always been one of the powerhouses of women’s football, pioneers, standard-setters and trailblazers. The worry is, under their new head coach Vlatko Andonovski, they are getting even stronger.
At the World Cup last summer, the rest of the world, led by Europe’s rising powers, England, France, Holland and Sweden, closed the gap. They scared the Americans, made them sweat and fret, but the US still triumphed and deservedly so.
The best team won, again. It was the fourth time they had lifted the World Cup and the second tournament running they had proved too strong for those, including Phil Neville’s side, who have narrowed the gap.
Jill Ellis, the British-born head coach who led the US to those two World Cup successes, has left, but the handover has been smooth.
In the seven games for which Andonovski has been in charge, the US have scored 34 goals, conceding two, with six clean sheets in a row as they breezed through their Olympic qualifying tournament, beating Canada 3-0 in the final. “I don’t think we’ve achieved it [my vision for the team],” said Andonovski. “You can see moments; in some games more, some games less. We’re definitely moving in the right direction. [But] I think this team is just going to get better and better.”
That is where the Shebelieves tournament comes in. The US have always been smart and this competition was created in 2016 in order to keep an eye on the major European threats, Germany, France and England.
Last year, two other potential rivals, Japan and Brazil, replaced Germany and France. This time Spain have been invited, after giving the US a tough game in the round of 16 at the World Cup. The Americans want to test themselves against the best, but also make sure there are no surprises if they do come up against them in knockout football.
They have been keeping a close eye on the English for some time and it was telling that when they beat Neville’s team 2-1 in the semi-final in Lyon, they celebrated as if they had won the tournament itself.
England won the Shebelieves tournament last year and the Americans viewed them with a mixture of admiration and foreboding. When it mattered, though in France, they were too strong and England fell at the semi-final stage at a third successive major tournament.