COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe it's for the best that Vlatko Andonovski's first game as head coach of the United States women's national team will skip right past the beginner stage.
Rather than easing in, Andonovski gets Sweden. The team that finished third in the most recent World Cup. The team the U.S. can't seem to escape in World Cups and Olympics. The only team that ever knocked the Americans out of one of those major tournament before the medal round. Pesky Sweden, ranked fifth in the world and already safely qualified for next summer's Olympics in Japan.
And just for good measure, forecasts for this part of Ohio call for temperatures dropping into the 20s by kickoff Thursday night with the potential for rain, sleet, snow -- or all of the above.