HOUSTON, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 20: Catarina Macario #20 of United States celebrates after scoring her … [+] first goal during a 2025 SheBelieves Cup match between United States and Colombia at Shell Energy Stadium on February 20, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
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1045 days after she last scored for the national team, it took Cat Macario just 33 minutes to find the net for the United States at the She Believes Cup against Colombia.
Macario slid in to force the ball home after a move began by 17-year-old Lily Yohannes, who split the Colombia defence with an incisive through pass which released Yazmeen Ryan down the right hand side. She squared for Macario to score.
United States coach Emma Hayes talked of the “pride” she felt after the game praising her movement saying “the first time in the half that we attacked the box quickly, she was in the right place at the right time.”
It was Macario’s first appearance for the United States since June last year, just before she was ruled out of playing in the Paris Olympics by new coach Emma Hayes due to a “knee irritation”. In her absence the team won the Gold Medal.
Her two appearances in 2024 were in themselves a comeback to the national team after almost two years out due to a rupture of her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which she suffered in the summer of 2022.
CHESTER, PA – APRIL 12: Catarina Macario #20 of the United States scores a goal against Uzbekistan … [+] at Subaru Park on April 12, 2022 in Chester, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
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Earlier that year, she had established herself as a focal point of the United States’ attack with five goals in five games, the last of which came in a home win over Uzbekistan in Chester, Pennsylvania.
At that point, Macario was at the very peak of her powers. She went on to score for her club side Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final against Barcelona, one of 28 goals for her that season. The following week, she tore her ACL, an injury which would ultimately rule her out of the following year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – MARCH 03: Emma Hayes, Manager of Chelsea and Catarina Macario of Chelsea … [+] celebrate following their team’s victory in the Barclays Women´s Super League match between Leicester City and Chelsea FC at The King Power Stadium on March 03, 2024 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
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It was Hayes who signed Macario for Chelsea on a free transfer in June 2023 and witnessed first-hand her struggle to regain full fitness. During that season, Hayes’ last as Chelsea head coach, Macario did not play for the first team until March and was limited to just 15 appearances in all competitions.
Nevertheless, Hayes was there to see Macario score her first Chelsea goal, just six minutes into her comeback away to Leicester City. The pair have always maintained a close relationship with Hayes talking affectionately about how popular Macario is with the other players. This season, Macario has already made more appearances for Chelsea than in the previous campaign, scoring six times in 17 games.
Macario was also involved in the move which ended with another landmark goal on the hour. On her first international start, U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, Ally Sentnor smashed in her first goal for the senior national team. “I said I knew the minute she turns where that ball is going to end up because she does that shot consistently well,” said Hayes.
“That is something she absolutely has in her locker. But I appreciated her work great tonight. I thought she was tenacious both sides of the wall for a young player of course she’s still got a lot to learn but I thought it was a very strong performance for her.”
HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 20: USA forward Ally Sentnor (9) celebrates her goal in the second half … [+] during the 2025 SheBelieves Cup soccer match between USA and Colombia on February 202, 2025 at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Macario was substituted with 26 minutes of the game remaining to save her for the United States’ remaining matches at the She Believes Cup against Australia in Arizona on Sunday and Japan in San Diego on Wednesday.
Hayes added “I think she’s got an instinct in and around the goal, which was demonstrated with the goal. So I said it to her when she came off. I said ‘everybody is super happy, super proud’, and I’m sure everybody back at Chelsea is too.”
