USWNT captain Lindsay Horan takes aim at coaching staff following early exit from World Cup

• Lindsey Horan takes a dig at Vlatko Andonovski
• Criticised his tactics in the World Cup
• USWNT were knocked out in round of 16

WHAT HAPPENED? Horan, who captained the USWNT at the recently concluded Women's World Cup, took a dig at former coach Vlatko Andonovski for his tactics as she claimed that it was the players who decided among themselves to play the way they eventually played in the round of 16 clash against Sweden and stated that they could have displayed similar performances in earlier stage of the tournament.

Despite a good performance against Sweden, USWNT failed to score even once during the game and eventually got knocked out of the competition after losing 5-4 in penalties. It was the team's worst-ever World Cup performance.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking at The RE-CAP Show, Horan said, "The game against Sweden, I don’t think we were necessarily set up to play the way that we played. That was just us finally coming together and being like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ And then it worked and then it’s like, ‘OK, keep doing it.’ Could that have happened earlier? Maybe. It’s a really tough one."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Following a dismal show at the flagship competition, Andonovski offered his resignation last week. His contract with USWNT would have expired at the end of this year.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT FOR LINDSAY HORAN? The 29-year-old, who is on the books of French giants Lyon, is likely to be in action for her club in a friendly game against Ajax on August 26.