USWNT boss Andonovski says Australian tests will reveal ‘who is the right person for this and who is not’

The US women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski is looking forward to seeing how his inexperienced squad cope with the upcoming two tough friendlies against Australia.

The USWNT will face the Matildas on Friday night US time (11pm ET) in Sydney before another game on Tuesday in Newcastle.

Of the 23 players Andonovski have called up, only 10 are from the Olympic team that won bronze in Japan last summer.

Why did Andonovski choose this lineup?

“This is not a coincidence,” Andonovski said.

“We want to check [them] right away. We wanted to test the players who are currently in this environment with some of the best players, and we wanted to test them in the kind of adversity we’re going to have here: long moves, jet lag. lagged after a long NWSL year against a team, 40,000 people at the stadium.

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“I think very quickly in the game we’ll figure out who’s the right guy for this and who’s not.”

New Era for USWNT

After a disappointing third-place finish at the Olympics, the USWNT had four friendlies in September and October that required Andonovski to pick a roster that consisted mostly of his Olympic squad.

But this month’s friendlies in Australia saw Andonovski take advantage of his opportunity to bring in a number of untested players as the USWNT heads towards the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

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Thirteen players on the list have made 10 caps or less, including six who have yet to play: Bethany Balcer, Bella Bixby, Imani Dorsey, Casey Murphy, Ashley Sanchez and Morgan Weaver.

Only two players on the list are aged 30 or over: 36-year-old defender Becky Sauerbrunn and 30-year-old midfielder Kristie Mewis.