Florida is under a hurricane watch as Tropical Storm Nicole approaches, but U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski doesn’t expect the weather conditions to affect his team’s friendly with Germany.
The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Thursday at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, which is under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning through early Thursday morning.
The USWNT released a statement Wednesday via Twitter addressing the possible impact of inclement weather on the match.
“The safety of the players, staff and fans is always of paramount importance,” the statement reads. “U.S. Soccer has been monitoring the situation for several days and the current weather forecast indicates that the USWNT vs. Germany match in Fort Lauderdale will be able to proceed as planned on Thursday night.”
The statement also said U.S. Soccer, Inter Miami CF and local authorities will be monitoring the forecast on an hourly basis.
On current weather conditions in South Florida: pic.twitter.com/pbrGRZoxlJ
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) November 9, 2022
Andonovski echoed the statement and added that, despite heavy rain, his team’s training session Wednesday morning went well.
“We were able to get the training in, and I thought we made the most of it,” he said. “I’m very happy with the way training went, and the preparation went.
“The weather did not quite cooperate with us as much as we wanted, but we did have great training. Everybody is in the right mindset.”
That mindset is important for the squad, which is coming off back-to-back friendly losses at the hands of England and a depleted Spanish National Team. The European trip marked the first time the team was defeated in two consecutive matches since 2017.
The USWNT will play two friendlies with Germany, the first coming Thursday in Florida and the second at 5 p.m. ET Sunday at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.