By Juan Carlos Maygua
The SheBelievesCup tournament concludes with the final game against Argentina. With the focus on the Olympics, we could be seeing the names that will take part in the Olympic squad. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski spoke to the media and gave his input on their rival and his general impression of these last 3 games.
With two victories and the cup a game away, it can be assumed that the coach will rotate the squad, giving playing time to players who didn’t get minutes so far. “There will be a few changes, some due to minute management, others, because we need to evaluate for the team., Were looking forward to seeing different players on the field”. Coach Andonovski gave a hint that no spots have been decided in regard to the Olympic squad, “all 18 spots are open”, he concluded. The game plan for Argentina was also discussed by coach Andonovski. “They will test us on the wings, they have scored their last 6 goals from crosses, so that’s something we’ll have to work on in the defensive aspect”. In terms of what they will have to do to counter the South Americans, the plan is playing wide once again. “They are very concentrated on the middle channel, they don’t allow many passes and cut connections in the midfield. That will make us explode and use the wide areas to attack”. Finally, I had the opportunity to ask the coach about his impressions on the team over these last 3 games, given that most of the squad came in the tournament with little to no competitive rhythm. “I’m extremely happy with the group and how they have performed in the games considering everything. They have also trained well in camp, they’re all in, always with high energy and competitiveness” In terms of the squad evolving throughout the games he added, “I’m happy with how everyone transformed with every game. We played two incredible opponents who presented different challenges for us. We got exposed in different areas and the fact that we were able to adjust things during the games or in training just makes me happy, extremely proud of them”. This in part makes my debut with the National Team in some way, so it was a good day.
Defender Casey Krueger spoke briefly about her return to the team after injury and how she processed the time off. “Honestly I didn’t see myself returning to the squad a couple of months ago. I focused on getting time off to recover from injury, so I’m happy they gave me the chance to return. I’m feeling probably the best I’ve felt in years after having the power rest and offseason for the first time in a while”, she concluded.
The USWNT is one win away from a perfect record in this edition of the tournament. While names are still undecided, the Olympic squad could likely line up tomorrow against Argentina.