Matildas coach resigns for US job

Sermanni said the decision to leave the team he's coached for the past eight years was not an easy one, but the opportunity to coach the No.1 team in women's football was a challenge he wanted to accept.

"In football, and in life, it's all about timing, and with Australian women's football quite settled at the moment with the national teams and the Westfield W-League, the timing of this challenge to coach the number one women's football team in the world was at the right time for me to accept," a statement from Sermanni read.

"There is plenty of great talent coming through the Australian women's football system and in the coming years I am confident that Australia will be a world force."

Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley said Sermanni would be missed in Australia but wished him all the best in the US.

"Tom's legacy for women's football in Australia will be felt for many years to come as he has helped transform our women's national team to a very professional and competitive group of players," a statement from Buckley read.

During his eight-year tenure Sermanni oversaw Women's World Cup campaigns in 2007 and 2011 where the Matildas made the quarter-finals stage as well as a Women's Asian Cup Championship in 2010.

Sermanni, who will replace Pia Sundhage in the US, has previously coached the San Jose CyberRays and New York Power in the WUSA.

His final Australian coaching duties will be the East Asian Cup Qualification tournament in Shenzen, China from 20 to 24 November.