USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski met the media ahead of his side's final game of 2022 as the Stars and Stripes face Germany in a friendly at Red Bull Arena.

Among the topics discussed were Alex Morgan's 200th cap, the play of the midfield, outside criticism of his recent job performance amd the growth of the women's game globally.

"She's helped build this program"

Andonovski addressed the milestone 200th cap of forward Alex Morgan, expressing his thoughts on the 33-year old's achievements.

"Alex is a US Women's national team legend and the fact I had the honor to work with her these few years, it's amazing. I've been blessed with this opportunity.

"I feel honored. It's special. She's (an) incredible person first and foremost, an incredible leader and a very good player. She's helped build this program, she's helped win championships in different levels.

"Very happy for her and i'm pretty sure 200 is not where she's gonna stop."

"Still a lot of room to grow"

The manager was asked about the play of the midfield and despite the result on Thursday, Andonovski was pleased with how this area of the field performed while mentioning further improvements.

"There were some really good moments on Thursday between the midfielders and the fact they orchestrated some of the better attacks that we've seen against top opponents.

"I think Lindsey (Horan) and Rose (Lavelle) were impactful in the game. They were very involved, they involved other players around them and I thought they were more impactful defensively. Still a lot of room to grow."

"I believe in this group of players"

Former members of the US national team have voiced their concern over the team's recent play, but Andonovski isn't concerned about the criticism directed at him.

"They're entitled to an opinion. At the same time, I would disagree with the mentality they're talking about. I see these players on a daily basis and I see what they do every day, how they step on the field and everything they put in.

"I believe in this group of players and I believe they're moving in the right direction going towards the World Cup.

"I do understand we've lost three games (in a row). I'm running away from it. That is my responsibility. I'm responsible for that and no other player regardless of what happens.

"I also understand that this is a process and we scheduled these games for this particular reason. We wanted to refresh the team. We wanted to transition the team with a new group, we want to develop the players, we want to win games.

"Sometimes everything doesn't line up. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time and I just want to say that I understand that, I understand how things work and like I said, i'm responsible for everything that happens there.

"Even in the last game, I thought we played a really good game and if it happened we scored a couple of goals, (and) we surely created enough chances, then the narrative was gonna be totally different."

Andonovski says the game is "growing exponentially"

The American boss was asked about the recent success of other teams and how they have begun to perform at a higher level on the biggest stages.

"The moment I got this job, I expected we were gonna win every game and that's my mindset. Is it realistic? Probably not, but it's not gonna change. What is gonna happen in the future? I'll probably tell you the same thing.

"Is it realistic to think that? I don't know. We'll see how everything goes, but talking about the game, it's growing exponentially. Obviously, we see teams how they perform and what they do, the investment in the game, the investment in the federation and we've known that for years.

"The last World Cup, it's not that we dominated, but we found a way to win it and we believe we're doing everything possible to strengthen this team, to develop this team so we can find ways to win the games when it mattered the most."