Since the start of the year, there had been a lot of talk about head coach Emma Hayes' desire to "bridge the gap" within the U.S. women's national team. The first tier of players is coming off a gold medal at last summer's Olympics. However, Hayes wanted to see if the younger generation could do more to challenge the presumed incumbents, deepen the player pool and be ready for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Hayes received some positive answers in a 2-0 win over Colombia to open the SheBelieves Cup, though it was a player who has been on the scene for four years -- and endured some brutal luck along the way -- who was a difference-maker, that being Catarina Macario.
Macario is one of those players who has seemed to be on the cusp of a breakout for what seems like forever. But it's been more a case of two steps forward, two steps back. Macario suffered an ACL tear in June 2022, shortly after winning the UEFA Women's Champions League with Lyon. Macario's recovery was long -- 20 months -- and arduous, so much so that she missed the 2023 World Cup.
Macario appeared to finally be ready to complete her comeback last summer, after making an impressive return for club side Chelsea. She was initially named to the Olympic squad, but knee irritation meant that she had to withdraw late in the selection process, missing out on gold medal glory.
"Probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, I think," Macario said postmatch about her recovery.
"Yeah, there were a lot of tears that were shed. Yeah, a lot of heartbreaks, that's for sure. A lot of times that I thought I wouldn't be able to play again, just a lot of adversity, and I'm just so thankful to be playing again."
This season, Macario has been steadily building up her minutes, scoring six goals in 16 league and cup competitions. And with the Triple Espresso front line of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia (Smith) Wilson unavailable for a variety of reasons, the door to international playing time was opened once again for Macario, and she made the most of it.
A deft pass over the top from Lily Yohannes in the 33rd minute found Yazmeen Ryan on the right wing, and Ryan's low centering feed found Macario in the box to deliver an authoritative finish. It was Macario's first international goal since she scored against Uzbekistan back on April 12, 2022. It also came versus the same side against which she scored her first international goal.
Macario said that scoring felt like a weight off her shoulders. "I'm still working on my fitness, obviously, but I think just to be having fun, really," Macario said.
"Yeah, it means the whole world. I'm so happy and yeah, I just hope to keep getting better and better."
Yet there has long been more to Macario's game than just goal scoring. The match reminded viewers of the clever touches, quick movements and incisive passes that got the Brazilian-born forward called up to the USWNT in the first place, starting back in 2022. And that kind of creativity is something that the U.S. can't have too much of.
Hayes knows this all too well, having managed Macario when the two were at Chelsea, and getting an up-close look at the player's ups and downs. When Macario was subbed out after 63 minutes, the hug between player and manager carried with it a bit more emotion than it might have had otherwise.
"There's been a lot of people involved with getting Cat to this position, and I think my first feeling was just being happy for her was that I just felt like pride because of how long she'd been out and how hard it had been for her and also because I thought she played well," Hayes said.
"I said it to her when she came off, I said, 'Everybody is super happy, super proud.' And I'm sure everybody at Chelsea is, too."
Fortunately for the U.S. on this night, Macario wasn't the only player providing some dynamic play. Yohannes, making her first USWNT start and playing deeper in midfield, showed off the kind of distribution that reveals what a coup it is to have had her choose the U.S. instead of the Netherlands, where she plays her club soccer with Ajax.
At just 17 years of age, there is still some question as to what Yohannes' best position is, namely is she a player for the final third or the middle third? On this night, she looked plenty comfortable in the latter role. With Sam Coffey and Lindsey Heaps doing plenty of dirty work in midfield, Yohannes was free to find space and pick Colombia apart with longer-range passes, including in the run-up to Macario's goal.
She even managed to win a couple of tackles and had a critical block of an Ana Guzman shot in the 79th minute, both of which are thought to be far down the list of Yohannes' attributes. Yohannes also seems to complement Coffey and Heaps well, augmenting their respective attributes and covering up their weaknesses.
The schedule in the SheBelieves Cup is compressed, with three games in seven days, so there is bound to be plenty of squad rotation in the subsequent games, but it's a combination that Hayes will want to see again.
"Lily is a midfielder. I think she's a player that is settling into our program, getting a better understanding of things we're asking her to do," Hayes said.
"I think again, it was a confident performance from her. I think it's important to remember she's still new to the program and that she keeps working on the things that we're asking her to do, both sides of the ball. It was an assured performance, one I know she'll be really happy with, but a central midfielder is what she is."
Hayes will also have taken note of Ally Sentnor's contribution. Sentnor had already put in an energetic performance as part of a three-player front line. But she made it a night to remember when her blast from nearly 30 yards in the 60th minute found the back of the net to give the U.S. some breathing room. It was the kind of goal that would have been memorable in any match, but to have that be her first international goal is the stuff dreams are made of.
To be clear, it was only one game, and Hayes will want more data from this competition to assess more accurately what she has.
The back line did look a bit shaky at times, though it made the plays it needed to. Up next is an Australia side that will be smarting from the 4-0 hammering it received from Japan in the day's opening match. But in terms of this match, Hayes witnessed plenty of encouraging signs.