Vlatko Andonovski left Skopje in North Macedonia for the United States on an inauspicious whim: to play indoor soccer, of which he knew nothing, in Wichita — about which he knew even less.
Even after being persuaded to make the journey by his childhood friend, Dino Delevski, Andonovski figured he’d be in the USA a few months in 2000 and return home to a more traditional soccer career.
Instead, the adventure proved life-altering. The improbable portal led to becoming a Kansas City treasure of known-by-first-name stature, a U.S. citizen and then ascending into one of the most conspicuous positions in the wide world of sports: coaching the much-celebrated U.S. women’s soccer team.
