A year after his U.S. team downfall, Vlatko Andonovski is back atop the NWSL in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vlatko Andonovski knows what everyone who comes through town these days wants to know. And every time, he says he’d rather not talk about it.

Politely, of course, as has always been his way. But firmly enough, no matter how nicely you ask.

Which you do, of course, because why wouldn’t you?

Just under 11 months since Andonovski departed the U.S. women’s national team after its crash out of the World Cup, Andonovski is flying high in his new job: manager of the first-place, undefeated, top-scoring-in-the-NWSL Kansas City Current.

The team plays in a beautiful new 11,500-seat stadium on the banks of the Missouri River, so close that star striker Temwa Chawinga launched a shot out of the stadium and into the water last Friday.

When the landing was shown on the video board, the roar from the crowd — sold out for every home game so far this year — was as electric as it was for Chawinga’s two goals that night.

» READ MORE: Subaru Park will host two NWSL games in July, including one with champions Gotham FC

And by the way, the Current aren’t just undefeated this year; they’re riding the longest unbeaten run in NWSL history: 17 games dating to last year.

So you might think that Andonovski might feel just a little … well … you know …

Nope, he still won’t say it. But there was one moment last weekend when he cracked the door ajar.

It came after Friday’s game, a 2-0 win over Houston. When Andonovski walked into his postgame news conference, he saw some familiar faces he hadn’t in a while, because many national reporters were in town for the U.S. men’s team’s Copa América game vs. Uruguay a few days later.

It only made sense to stop by the Current game to kick off the weekend, and see how he was doing.

Andonovski has had lots of success as a coach over the years. He won NWSL championships with FC Kansas City, the Current’s predecessor, in 2014 and 2015; took the Seattle Reign to the playoffs in 2018 and 2019; and was the NWSL’s coach of the year in 2013 and 2019.

» READ MORE: Sinead Farrelly retires, ending a career that’s one of soccer’s all-time comeback stories

From the outside, this season feels like his greatest accomplishment since that last title, especially since his team has fewer big-name stars than other NWSL squads. But does it feel different to him?

“There’s no one thing that I can say that is different than the previous teams,” Andonovski said. “I had fun coaching in the previous years. I had fun in 2014 and 2015. … I had fun coaching the national team, too.”

Did he really have fun in the hottest seat in women’s soccer? Yes, he insisted, he did.

“I had a great time with them, a great group of players,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with some amazing people, to be surrounded with amazing players. I’ve been blessed with people that I work with, people that are good people, people that are very competent, people that I can trust.”

That, he said, “is what brings joy to the job that I have.”

When Andonovski departed the national team last summer, there was little doubt that he’d land on his feet quickly. It’s nothing new for club coaches to not succeed with national teams, because the rhythms of working with players are totally different.

» READ MORE: Before the Union, the Kixx were Philly’s soccer team, and Vlatko Andonovski played for them in 2005

Two months after returning from Australia, Andonovski was back in charge of his adopted hometown’s women’s club. He has called Kansas City home since moving there from his native North Macedonia in 2000. So when the Current spent most of 2023 with an interim manager, the first guess of who’d get the next full-time job was obvious.

He’s got a powerhouse staff, too. Assistant coach Freya Coombe is a former manager of Gotham FC and Angel City, and fellow assistant Milan Ivanovic has been by Andonovski’s side for years.

Andonovski listens to them. In Friday’s game, they lobbied him to move Chawinga from a winger spot to central striker.

“I was kind of hesitant to do it, and then [Coombe] said it again, and Milan reiterated it,” Andonovski said. “I thought to myself, ‘I trust you, you’re good at what you do.’”

He made the change during a stoppage, and Chawinga scored twice in three minutes in the second half.

“I just appreciate the fact that I have fun,” Andonovski said. “I appreciate the team, the group that I’m able to coach. … They try to be the best version of themselves every training, every game, even when things are not going well. They leave it all on the field.”

» READ MORE: Sam Coffey makes the U.S. women’s soccer Olympic team, but Alex Morgan doesn’t

On the other side of a nearby glass wall, fans were celebrating the unbeaten streak in a bar designed like an old Kansas City speakeasy. A few minutes earlier, Current co-owner Angie Long popped a bottle of champagne for the occasion.

“I appreciate the support that I have from the owners, from the organization, and I appreciate these people here,” Andonovski said. “Like, this is cool. This is our eighth game in Kansas City [this year], and it’s sold out. There’s so much to appreciate.”

That includes the Current’s own practice facility, with all the bells and whistles, a 15-minute drive up the highway. It opened two years ago, at a cost of $18 million, before the $140 million stadium opened this year.

Current goalkeeper AD Franch, a 2019 World Cup winner and 2021 Olympian with the U.S., appreciates Andonovski in turn. She praised him for “the way in which he has standards and expectations across the board, and getting everybody to buy into that.”

“You can see that everybody is on the same page,” she said. “We can really compete, and then we can also be special in our own moments, and I think he’s allowed that.”

» READ MORE: After more than 20 years of waiting, Emma Hayes’ dream to become the USWNT’s manager has come true

The league will see it again Saturday when the Current host the Orlando Pride in the game of the season. The teams are tied for first place, with 10-5-0 records (35 points), and Chawinga and Orlando’s Barbra Banda are tied in the Golden Boot race with 11 goals each.

ION will have the national TV broadcast (WPPX in Philadelphia, Channel 61) at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. It will be a busy night of soccer across the country, from the NWSL to MLS to the Copa América, but the game will be worth checking out.

Perhaps the best moment to sum up Andonovski’s mood came when he was asked whether he saw that Chawinga shot go into the river.

“No,” he answered. “It did? That’s awesome. You know what, if she missed, then she might as well miss it in style.”

He conceded that it was easier to say that after a win, with Chawinga scoring both of her goals after the big miss. But his laughter after the initial quip was as hearty as the media’s, and as genuine as it’s ever been.

» READ MORE: Why are Amazon and ION investing in the WNBA and NWSL? Because it’s smart business.