Pressure on US squad, coach as World Cup title defence begins

AUCKLAND – United States coach Vlatko Andonovski’s tenure may have turned from “pressure into excitement” but the Women’s World Cup will prove the ultimate test, as his side kick off their tournament against Vietnam on Saturday.

The Americans enjoyed tremendous success under previous coach Jill Ellis, who led them to their third and fourth titles in 2015 and 2019.

She may prove a tough act to follow. No team have ever won three straight World Cups, but US fans will accept nothing less from the world’s top-ranked side.

“When I took this job four years ago, it wasn’t unknown what the expectations are,” said Andonovski, who accepted the post months after the US beat the Netherlands in the 2019 final.

“I was very well aware of it and I was aware of the pressure of the job, and I embraced it and it helped me.

“It helped me in the preparation because the pressure turned into excitement.”

Andonovski is banking on a new generation of talent in Australia and New Zealand, as he welcomed 14 World Cup first-timers to the 23-player squad.

He came up short in his first major tournament, however, as the Americans finished with bronze in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“We have a very good mix of young, energetic, enthusiastic players and experienced players who have been through tough games... and they know how to win big tournaments,” he said.

Their South-east Asian opponents in Auckland on Saturday are massive underdogs, but US fans expecting a repeat of their 2019 opener – a 13-0 drubbing of Thailand – may be disappointed.

Andonovski has previously said the days of such lopsided triumphs are long gone, and that his squad were prepared to face “the best Vietnam team that has ever been on the field”.

New Zealand’s stunning upset win over former champions Norway in the opener was a clear reminder that anything can happen on football’s biggest stage.

“We don’t look past the first game. We know that we have a very tough opponent ahead of us,” said the 46-year-old Macedonian-American.

“We’re certainly going to come out with a team that will give us the best chance to win every game.”

The US are in Group E, alongside the Netherlands and Portugal, with the two European sides facing off at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Sunday.

The 2019 runners-up have accused the Women’s World Cup of amateurish organisation as they complained about their training conditions at the Bay Oval in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Coach Andries Jonker said he feared his players could be injured on the field, which has a hard cricket pitch in the middle, and which the Dutch had asked be taken out months ago.

“When we arrived here on Wednesday, I thought, ‘now what is this now?’ I will not train on this,” he said of the test cricket venue in the Bay of Plenty area.

“We have raised concerns about the cricket pitch previously, we were promised things and now we are very disappointed and angry. We are not satisfied.

“We want to play a good first match against Portugal here, we want to have a top preparation, a top tournament and we also consider ourselves a top team.

“This does not fit. This fits with amateurism of the highest order.”

The Dutch football association said they had expressed concerns to Fifa when they made two inspection visits both last October and in February, and were promised that the hard pitch would be removed after the cricket season and by the time the Dutch women arrived in New Zealand.

“If you fall on it with your knee or your shoulder, you could have a problem.

“If you sprint from the grass to that pitch, that is also not good for muscles and tendons that are already under tension,” Jonker said. REUTERS