KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vlatko Andonovski was nine years old when he was taught that losing was unacceptable.
The boys at F.K. Vardar learned that early. Andonovski, 44, grew up in a middle-class, soccer-playing family in Skopje, the capital of the country now known as North Macedonia. But almost as soon as he joined the academy of the country’s biggest and most popular team, in 1985, the stakes were raised.
Vardar’s academy attracted the most talented prospects in Macedonia, and the competition for places — even for preteen boys — was fierce. Being accepted into one of the youth teams was merely the start.