Catarina Macario’s screamer helps USWNT seal fifth SheBelieves Cup title
The good news continued for the US women’s national team, this time on the field, when they captured the SheBelieves Cup for the fifth time in seven tournaments with a 5-0 win against Iceland on Wednesday in Frisco, Texas.
Catarina Macario scored exquisite goals in the 37th and 45th minutes and later assisted on the second of two goals by Mallory Pugh, who scored in the 60th and 75th minutes. Kristie Mewis made it 5-0 in the 88th minute.
Iceland entered Wednesday’s contest with two victories from two games and needed only a draw to claim the title over the United States, who had a win and a draw from their first two games.
The match was played a day after the landmark agreement between the USWNT and the US Soccer Federation over equal pay. Under the settlement the women are guaranteed a total of $24m plus bonuses by US Soccer to match the men, as long as a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.
Several players from the US also displayed the message “Protect Trans Kids” around their wrists. The move was a response to the Texas state attorney general Ken Paxton, who called gender-affirming surgeries and medical care “child abuse”.
“With the platform we have, we really wanted to show why this team is different and why we do things that are much bigger than just the game,”
Macario said after the game. “It was just a way to show awareness, especially because we were playing in Texas.”
With those events as the backdrop, the US dominated but couldn’t find the breakthrough until some Macario magic made it 1-0. She curled in a shot from the edge of the area that smacked off the right post and across the goalline.
Eight minutes later, Pugh’s pass rolled across the box to Macario, who chipped the ball over flat-footed goalkeeper Sandra Sigurdardottir for her fifth international goal in 15 games. Macario had a chance for a hat-trick but on the break but instead passed to an open Pugh for the 4-0 lead. Pugh has 21 goals in 70 games. Mewis completed the scoring with a close-range finish.
Casey Murphy made one save for the USWNT’s 17th straight home shutout.
The Czech Republic finished third with two points in three games after a 0-0 tie with New Zealand, who wound up fourth with one point.