Cat Macario to miss Olympics for U.S. due to knee injury

By
JEFF KASSOUF via <a href="http://espn.go.com/" title="ESPN" class="espn_sc_byline">ESPN </a>
via
July 12, 2024, 12:09 PM ET
3 min read

HARRISON, N.J. -- Forward Catarina Macario will miss the Olympics due to what United States women's national team head coach Emma Hayes called "knee irritation" that developed during training this week.

Forward Lynn Williams, who participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2023 World Cup, will replace Macario on the USWNT's 2024 Olympic roster.

Defender Emily Sams will assume the place of Williams as one of four alternates for the USWNT.

Sams had been training with the USWNT this week. All those moves are still pending approval from the ICO, USOPC, and FIFA, since the deadline for final rosters has already passed.

"She's devastated," Hayes said of Macario. "It's not a long-term situation; [she's] just not going to recover in time.

"I'm absolutely gutted for Cat. She's someone who has worked hard within the last 12 months. She's really put in a shift to get there but it's not to be."

Hayes said that Macario will return to London to get treatment with her club and Hayes' former club, Chelsea.

The USWNT coach added that Macario had some irritation leading up to training this week.

Hayes called the situation "complex."

Macario tore her ACL with her old club team, Lyon, in May 2022 and was sidelined for a year and a half.

She made her comeback with Chelsea earlier this year, and returned to the field for the USWNT in April at the SheBelieves Cup, marking her first appearance for her country in two years.

After a disappointing finish in the Women's World Cup last summer, the United States will embark on its first major tournament under new coach Hayes.

The former Chelsea coach only has four tuneup matches before the team's Olympics opener against Zambia in Nice on July 25.

Olympics women's soccer starts with a round-robin group stage followed by a knockout round. The women alternate days with the men's soccer competition at cities across France.

The group stage opens July 25. There are three groups of four teams.

Group A includes France, Canada, Colombia and New Zealand. Group B includes the United States, Zambia, Germany and Australia.

Group C includes Spain, Japan, Nigeria and Brazil.

The quarterfinals are Aug. 3 and the semifinals Aug. 6.

The bronze medal match will be played in Lyon on Aug. 9, and the gold medal match is Aug. 10 in Paris.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.