Topics: Vlatko Andonovski, Carli Lloyd, Christen Press, USWNT, Sweden, International Women's Friendly
The 37-year-old icon played a part in every single goals as the world champions beat Sweden 3-2.

A new era for USWNT has kicked off, with Vlatko Andonovski taking charge of the most successful nation in women’s football for his first game. The 43-year-old’s first game came against Sweden and he enjoyed a lovely debut despite spells of lackluster defending.

The four-time Women’s World Cup champions beat the FIFA’s fifth-ranked nation 3-2. Carli Lloyd is to thank for this victory, having a hand in all three goals for the Stars and Stripes.

The 37-year-old icon captained her nation in this game and broke the deadlock early on in the game, needing only six minutes to hand the home side a 1-0 lead. In the 28th minute, Lloyd would a part in USA’s second goal, this time setting up Press to double the world champions’ lead. Just over the half-an-hour mark, Carli would go on to complete her brace and give USWNT a 3-0 lead heading into the break.

The two-time World Player of the Year missed a penalty and let the opportunity of a hat-trick slip away from her fingers, but she did enough to earn the Woman of the Match accolade. Here are the best stats from the 3-2 victory:

  • Andonovski became the sixth USWNT manager out of a total eight to enjoy a victory in a debut game.

  • Christen Press, who scored the second of the USA’s three goals, reached the 50-goal mark with that first-half effort.

  • This was the 21st time Lloyd scored two goals or more in a single game. She also moved level with Heather O’Reilly as USWNT players to score under five different managers, with only Kristine Lilly netting for more (6).

  • Carli now has 120 career goals for the world’s most successful women’s national team and is the USWNT player with the most goals in 2019 (15).

The question now is what’s next for Andonovski after his debut game? Jill Ellis’ successor got a taste of what it’s like to manage USWNT and despite inheriting an unstoppable force, his job will be to take them to the next level. It might have been a friendly but watching the Stars and Stripes concede two goals from lapses in concentration is no sight to behold. With the 2020 Olympics being right around the corner, the USA know they can never switch off even when going 3-0 up.