Catarina Macario

Catarina Cantanhede Melonio Macario (born October 4, 1999) is a Brazilian-born American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Lyon of the French Division 1 Feminine. Born in Brazil, she represents the United States internationally.

Macario was a decorated collegiate player in the United States. In 2017, she was named "Freshman of the Year" by the TopDrawerSoccer.com and ESPNW Player of the Year. In 2018, Macario won the Hermann Trophy, ESPNW Player of the Year, and the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award. In 2019, Macario won the Honda Sports Award and again won the Hermann Trophy.

International Career

Macario is eligible to play internationally for Brazil and the United States. She was called to represent the United States at several youth levels. Macario stated that she intended to represent the United States at the senior level, turning down several approaches from the Brazilian Football Confederation.

On October 8, 2020, Macario received her first call up to represent the United States at senior level, though she could not yet do this in games until she received clearance from FIFA. Later the same day, she announced on Twitter that she had acquired American citizenship. On January 13, 2021, U.S. Soccer announced that Macario received clearance from FIFA to represent the United States internationally. On January 18, 2021, Macario debuted for the United States, coming in the half-time of a friendly match against Colombia, thus becoming the first naturalized citizen ever to play for the US senior women's team. In the next game, another friendly against Colombia, she started for the first time, scoring her first international goal, on January 22, 2021.

On June 23, 2021, Macario was included on the roster for the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.