Catarina Macario, 20, has difficulty finding specific words in Portuguese. She was born in São Luís, and she still has a Maranhão accent. But she encounters difficulty remembering some words that she doesn't use daily.
She has lived in the United States since she was 12 years old, and she is now the leading university football player in the country. As a Stanford student, she won in for the second time in a row, the Hermann Trophy. The trophy is given to the best athlete of the NCAA season, the league of North American universities.
Despite being born in Brazil, she has already defended the United States' base teams, including the under-23s. Now, she is waiting for the naturalization process to end to play for the American team, the current world champion.
"The reason I want to defend the United States is that it was the country that hugged me. They always gave me opportunities here to play football, to have a better life with my studies. It was where I grew up, you know? I was born in Brazil, but really my values and my heart belong to the United States ", said the attacking midfielder in an interview with Folha.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon