We’re only just over a month into 2021 and Catarina Macario has already had a thrilling year. While some of us were debating whether to leave our Christmas trees up for another week (or four), Macario was making her USWNT debut, scoring her first national team goal, and making her club debut for Olympique Lyon.
On Saturday, Lyon battled Montpellier to a 2-1 victory as they fight PSG for the number one spot in the league table. The game was tied 1-1 when Catarina Macario made her debut with a grin across her face in the 37th minute.
Catarina Macario had 53 minutes to show her mettle in her Lyon debut.
She showed persistence on defense from the moment she entered the game. A few minutes later a flicked touch over a defender and a blocked shot attempt of hers ultimately led to her teammate scoring Lyon’s game-winning goal. A promising start to the 21 years old’s debut.
For the rest of the game, she continued to show glimpses of her strengths from her technical skills maneuvering around opponents and her burst sprint speed to holding up the ball and boxing out defenders. Though she had these moments of brilliance and found herself on the ball quite frequently, her second half was equally filled with shanked shots and heavy touches.
She has much to improve on as she finds her way in the French league but to her credit, she never looked out of place among a group of players dominating women’s soccer in Europe. All in all, she had a debut she can be proud of in an important victory for Lyon.
With a skilled midfield and front line that will continue to feed her juicy passes and give her plenty of attacking opportunities, Lyon should provide the perfect setting for Catarina Macario to improve and shine at a professional level. I have a funny feeling Macario’s whirlwind of a year isn’t slowing down anytime soon.