USWNT: Catarina Macario out of Olympic women's soccer squad with knee irritation, Lynn Williams as replacement

The iconic 1999 U.S. women's World Cup team was on hand on Friday as U.S.A soccer prepared for their friendly

HARRISON, N.J. -- U.S. women's national team attacker Catarina Macario will miss the Olympics with "minor knee irritation," head coach Emma Hayes announced on Friday ahead of the team's match against Mexico. Macario will be replaced by Lynn Williams, who was originally named as an alternate to the roster, while Emily Sams will now join the alternates after training with the team over the course of the week.

Macario's injury continues her long journey back to fitness since tearing her ACL two years ago. She was unable to recover in time for last year's Women's World Cup but made her return to play in the spring for Hayes as the coach wrapped up her 12 year spell with Chelsea. Hayes said Macario re-aggravated the injury and though it will not keep her out for the long term, she will not recover in time for the Games in France.

"She trained the other day, but she had had some irritation leading up to that and it reacted," Hayes said. "Having been through the last 12 months with her, I know that …  it's complex so her welfare comes first and, as I said, she's done everything she can and she's devastated but it's not a long-term situation. Just not going to recover in time for the Olympics."

Hayes broke the news to Williams late Thursday night in a lengthy conversation that was true to the coach's one-on-one coaching style with players.

"When I found out last night, I think we had 30 minutes of pre-talk before she even told the news and then she told me the news and then we had 30 more minutes of just talking," Williams said. "Just getting to know her, I think what's really cool about her is she's trying to get to know people on an individual level, on a personal level."

The lengthy discussion included Williams offering Hayes a restaurant recommendation for a day off with her family, as well as a chat about how the different generations of the team make the shape of a heart with their hands.

"I was talking about how the team is bonding," Williams said. "I was like, even though we have a lot of young and older [players], we were bonding over silly things like, for example, a lot of us millennials do our hearts like this," she said while making the heart gesture with her all of her fingers. "Gen Z-ers do this," she said while attempting to do the gesture with just her thumb and index fingers, "which is difficult on my fingers and little things. I'm like, we're still bonding. That is not an emoji. I'll let her know that she needs to get on board."

Williams has been upgraded from her status as an alternate before for the pandemic-delayed Olympics in Tokyo, when the 18-person roster was bumped up to 22. Her ability to break into the main roster on a few occasions, including her trip to the 2023 Women's World Cup, speaks to Williams' competitive nature.

"I just think that anytime you're able to be around this team, it's an honor and a privilege," she said. "Anytime I get to wear the cross, I just never take it for granted. I said this to Emma last night though. I'm a very stubborn person, so just not taking no for an answer but just being able and willing to help the team in wanting to be part of something bigger than yourself, I think is why. I am always okay with being in any position on this team."

The high-stakes battle for spots has been a long staple of the USWNT and is all the more relevant considering the team is aiming to rise to the top of women's soccer again after their earliest-ever World Cup exit a year ago. It is quite timely, then, that  the 1999 World Cup-winning squad was also in the building to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their triumph -- and create a straight  line between the championship-winning legacy of the past and ensuring that remains the case in the present.

"I was on a call with Emma [on] Wednesday, I think, a couple days ago and we're bringing the current team together with the '99ers for a special luncheon today, just the players," Julie Foudy, a member of the 1999 team and a broadcaster for Turner, said. "I work in soccer so I see these players all the time but the '99ers don't give a chance to get to know them, right? And we're at this incredible moment where you have this phenomenal coach who has a history of building programs, honoring legacies and gets it [as] to what our DNA is and then you have these young kids who need that insight  as well, because it's like this onboarding process."

Foudy also projected optimism despite the high-stakes of the Olympics, where many will expect the USWNT to reach the podium even amidst an increasingly competitive women's soccer landscape. It gave Friday's pre-match activities a celebratory feel -- the members of the 1999 team were "doing tunnels for every player that's running through" and cheering down the hall while players were being interviewed, as Foudy described it.

It gave the feeling that the USWNT -- past and present -- were not just eager to turn the page on last year's disappointment, but were well and truly already working to put it behind them.

"It's perfect and then for us to be here before and be able to send them off and meet them in that sense, I think it's going to be enormous because you're linking the legacy of this team with what their moment is to come," Foudy said. "They are going to rise to all those challenges, I feel like, and if we can help in any sense, teaching them what this team's all about, then Emma gets it firsthand, right? The importance of that moment. So I'm excited for the lunch."