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USWNT's Catarina Macario to miss World Cup qualifiers with ACL injury

United States women's national team's Catarina Macario has confirmed she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in Lyon's final game of the season and will be out "for a few months."

Lyon beat Issy 4-0 on Wednesday to end their season undefeated but Macario came off the field after 13 minutes injured.

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The injury to Macario means that she will miss the USWNT's 2023 World Cup qualifying and Olympic qualifiyng matches in July and likely the start of the 2022-23 season.

"Unfortunately, injuries are a natural part of football. Tearing an ACL is never easy, and although I am devastated to be away from the field and my teammates for a few months, I could not be more proud of my first year as a professional footballer and to have helped the team reconquer two big titles this season," she said in a statement posted on social media on Sunday.

"As challenging as the recovery process may be, I believe that God is in control of everything, so I have no doubt that with the right support system, patience, and hard work, I will be back better and hungrier than before."

Macario is the second Lyon player to suffer an ACL injury in the last two weeks with defender Ellie Carpenter also out for several months after being taken off during the Champions League final.

Lyon also confirmed early in May that Dzsenifer Marozsan had suffered an ACL rupture while on international duty with Germany and had to undergo surgery, causing her to miss at least six months and the European Championship in England this summer.