USWNT’s Catarina Macario suffers ACL tear and will miss World Cup qualification
Considered one of the most talented prospects of her generation the rising star is now set for a long lay off, leaving the question of how will her country cope?
The United States women’s national team was dealt a significant blow with confirmation of a serious injury and expected long term absence of one of their stars.
USWNT’s Catarina Macario suffers ACL tear
According to her comments on Sunday, USWNT and Lyon star Catarina Macario is not set for a long road to recovery after tearing her ACL. The 22 year old Brazilian born player has got to feel distraught having just come from winning the Women’s Champions League with the French club. Macario suffered the injury in the 13th minute of Lyon’s last game of the season against Issy, which turned out to be a 4-0 win. In a post made to social media, the talented midfielder explained that it comes with the territory and as much as it truly is a low, the highs of the season were unforgettable.
“Unfortunately, injuries are a natural part of football. Tearing an ACL is never easy, and although I am devastated to be away from the field and my teammates for a few months, I could not be more proud of my first year as a professional footballer and to have helped the team reconquer two big titles this season,” she wrote. “As challenging as the recovery process may be, I believe that God is in control of everything, so I have no doubt that with the right support system, patience, and hard work, I will be back better and hungrier than ever before.”
How will Lyon cope without their star?
There probably isn’t a better word to describe Macario than ‘star.’ As Lyon’s leading goalscorer this season with 23 goals in 35 matches, Macario was quite simply indispensable. Needless to say with a long road to recovery expected the loss of a player who was a significant part of their victorious Champions League campaign, will be a significant loss for Lyon who also completed the double weeks ago before heading into that fateful final match of the season.
Though it is true that the season has ended and will kick off once again in August, injuries such as the one that Macario sustained normally carry a minimum of six months before field activity can resume. What that means is that the 2022-23 season will be more than half way through by the time she returns to her team. With her contract understood to be up in June next year, there are already questions as to how her future will be handled.
What about World Cup qualification with the USWNT?
While there is never a good time to suffer an injury, it could definitely be said there couldn’t be much worse. With two friendlies later this month against Colombia and then the Concacaf Women’s Championship which determines which teams will go to the 2023 World Cup, the timing of the young star’s ACL tear is definitely less than ideal to say the least. Indeed, it now looks all but certain that she will be unavailable for the USWNT’s qualifying campaign.
This of course is a sad end to the campaign of a promising player who has become a staple at USWNT camps, tournaments, and international friendlies. Despite only playing seven minutes during the USWNT’s bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics, Macario has since been a regular starter for head caoch Vlatko Andonovski. Indeed, Macario has been a starter in all five games for the USWNT this year, scoring five goals and recording one assist. Worse still is the fact that there was real synergy developing between her and the likes of Rose Lavelle, Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh. With that said, the team can only look to plan for a qualifying campaign without their young star.