Catarina Macario will 'be a big-time player for this national team,' a US soccer star said of her 22-year-old club teammate

• Catarina Macario has already earned several call-ups and caps with the US Women's National Team.
• Superstar midfielder Lindsey Horan says her 22-year-old teammate is will be a "big-time" star for the USWNT.

Catarina Macario has already shown remarkable promise with the US Women's National Team.

And according to Lindsey Horan — Macario's superstar teammate for both club and country — the 22-year-old Brazilian-American still "has so much more to give."

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to hopefully help her keep pushing forward and be a role model for her," Horan told Insider.

A midfielder with more than 100 appearances for the USWNT and a World Cup title under her belt, Horan knows what it takes to succeed with the Stars and Stripes. And as Macario's teammate on French side Olympic Lyonnais, better known as Lyon, the reigning US Soccer Female Player of the Year has seen first-hand just how great Macario can be.

Lyon has long been considered one of the strongest women's teams on the planet and is home to an abundance world-class superstars. As such, the club with seven Champions League titles to its name is a notoriously difficult place for a young player to make an immediate impact or even carve out playing time.

But Macario is no ordinary young player.

In just over a year with the dominant French side, Macario has become a regular starter and key contributor among Ballon d'Or winners and international icons. She's accrued 27 goals and six assists in 38 total appearances for Lyon.

Her contributions during Champions League play may be even more impressive. With seven goals and two assists through 11 games, Macario has powered Lyon to this year's semifinals and ranks third in scoring among all players in the tournament.

"Catarina is incredible," Horan said. "And I get to see her day in, day out with Lyon and get to know her a little bit more personally as well."

"I think she's going to be a big-time player for this national team," she added.

Macario is already well on her way to doing just that. Through five USWNT games in 2022, Macario scored five goals — tied for most on the team — and added two assists. She's likely to be at the center of the national team's World Cup defense next summer, but first, Vlatko Andonovski's squad will have to qualify.

The USWNT — almost certainly with both Macario and Horan in tow — will head to Mexico in July for the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, where the reigning World Cup champions will have a chance to lock in a spot for both Australia/New Zealand 2023 and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But before that, Macario and Horan have some club business to attend to. In 2021, after five consecutive years hoisting the Champions League trophy, Lyon suffered a shocking quarterfinal elimination against rival Paris Saint-Germain.

This season, Macario and Horan have a chance to help Lyon exact revenge against its French foe. Lyon bested PSG 3-2 in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Sunday, and now the stacked squad will look to win or draw on Saturday to advance to the tournament final.

"I've never won a Champions League, and that's my main goal here," Horan, who spent four years with PSG early in her career, told Insider. "I'm not as worried about the opponent and the fact that I played there, but more just focused on our team and what we can do and how we can win this game."

Round two of Lyon-PSG kicks off Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. Fans around the world can watch the drama unfold for free on DAZN's YouTube channel.