HARRISON, NJ — Forward Catarina Macario will miss the Olympics because of what U.S. women's national team coach Emma Hayes called “knee irritation” that developed during training this week.
Forward Lynn Williams, who competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2023 World Cup, will replace Macario on the U.S. women's Olympic roster for 2024.
Defender Emily Sams will take Williams' place as one of four alternates for the U.S. women's national team. Sams had been training with the U.S. women's national team this week.
“She's devastated,” Hayes said of Macario. “It's not a long-term situation; [she’s] It just won't recover in time.
“I'm absolutely heartbroken for Cat. She's someone who has worked incredibly hard over the last 12 months. She's put in a lot of effort to get to this point, but it just didn't come to pass.”
Hayes said Macario will return to London for treatment with his club and Hayes' former club Chelsea.
The USWNT coach added that Macario had some irritation before training this week.
Hayes described the situation as “complex.”
Macario tore her anterior cruciate ligament with her former club Lyon in May 2022 and was sidelined for a year and a half. As a result, she missed last year's World Cup.
In a post shared on social media on Friday, Macario wrote that she was “heartbroken to have to withdraw from the Olympic roster and not be able to represent Team USA. I will support the team every step of the way and the girls are ready ❤️.”
She made her comeback with Chelsea earlier this year and returned to the pitch for the U.S. women's national team in April at the SheBelieves Cup, marking her first appearance for her country in two years.
Williams said he hoped Macario would make a quick recovery.
“I think it can be two things at once. You can be devastated for a teammate and also excited for yourself at the same time,” she said Friday. “But right now, I'm not necessarily thinking, 'Oh, I'm excited for me.' I'm thinking, 'How can I help the team? What does the team need from me?'
“I think that was my role as a backup all along: to be ready and prepared when called upon. Obviously, I'm devastated for Cat.
“It's a unique experience to be in this group. These are the people you compete with to be on a team, but also the people who most understand the experience, the difficulties. Obviously, Cat will need a second to digest this, but [I’m’] “Sending you all the love and hugs.”
Hayes stressed that the team will adapt.
“I always saw it as 22, and with the rule changes, absolutely nothing changes,” he said. “What changes is that without Cat, I have to think about some different permutations for the team, which I've already reflected on. For us, it's now about looking towards that and making sure everyone else knows what those adjustments could be.”
Hayes said he would be counting on Williams' experience to help the team.
“I'm a pretty straightforward person and she is too, so it works out really well,” Hayes said of Williams. “We've been very honest from the beginning. It's been a pleasure to be with her. I told her this last night: She seems very calm. She's been in this situation before and I think because she's been in this situation before, she's calm and she can handle anything. She'll always remind me that her job is to make my life difficult.”
After a disappointing showing at the Women's World Cup last summer, the United States will embark on its first major tournament under new coach Hayes.
The former Chelsea manager has just two warm-up games before the team's Olympic opener against Zambia in Nice on July 25.
Women's football at the Olympic Games begins with a round-robin group stage, followed by a knockout round. Women's football competitions are held on alternating days with men's football competitions in cities across France.
The group stage begins on 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 quarter-finals will be on August 3 and the semi-finals on August 6.
The bronze medal match will be played in Lyon on August 9, and the gold medal match on August 10 in Paris.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
