One of the most beautiful things about sports is they remind us to persevere—one of life’s most universal and important lessons. As a new season continues to unfold across the pond, we'll be keeping an eye on several players undergoing their own, unique redemption arc. From putting the injury woes in the past, to clawing back to the game's biggest stages, here are just a few Black Stars whose tenacity and resolve are currently being test.
Catarina Macario's redemption: fighting back from injury
Macario, only 24, already has some impressive achievements in her career, thus far. But she's been facing an uphill battle to fully realize her enormous potential thanks to injury.
Prior to moving to the United States at 12 years old, Macario, born in Brazil, played in the academies of some of the country's biggest clubs, like Flamengo, Cruzeiro, and Santos. Here's something wild—she only started playing for women’s teams after she moved to the U.S., meaning she spent the initial part of her career playing for academies that produced talents such as Vinicius Jr. and Neymar Jr.
We encourage you to read this entry Macario wrote for The Players' Tribune in 2021, where she discusses her version of the American dream and why moving here was important. In it, she writes:
The truth is, it’s sad how many people in Brazil didn’t know how to handle a young, Black girl who just wanted to play soccer. Some of the things that I heard at a very young age were … Well, it was very upsetting.
After lighting up her time in ECNL (she scored 165 goals with San Diego Surf) and Stanford (two national championships, many accolades), Macario went on to sign for Lyon, in France, in 2021. In May 2022, Macario scored to help Lyon defeat a historically great FC Barcelona team in the UEFA Women's Champions League Final.
It really felt like her career was about to take off and soar, but a month later, Macario suffered an ACL injury. This injury ended up costing her her plane ticket to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, a tournament in which the U.S. Women's National Team struggled to create goals and ended up bowing out in the Round of 16.
Macario, now with Chelsea, recovered from this ACL injury and played two matches this year, but issues with her knee kept her off the flight to the Paris Olympics, which the U.S. ended up winning under new manager, Emma Hayes.
Despite the setbacks, you can bet on Macario coming back strong and building on an already storied career for club and country.
Raheem Sterling's redemption: being squeezed out at club, country
In spite of the constant undue ‘entorno’ that has surrounded Sterling throughout his career, he's undoubtedly been one of the top wingers in England since he burst onto the scene for Liverpool.
His exploits for the Merseyside club earned him a European Golden Boy award in 2014—the first Englishman since Wayne Rooney to win it—and a transfer to Manchester City in 2015, which, at the time, was the highest transfer fee paid for an English player. It was in Manchester where Sterling truly excelled, appearing 225 times and scoring 91 goals under Pep Guardiola’s tutelage. ‘Raz’ also made three FIFA Men's World Cup squads (2014, 2018, 2022) for England.
However, things began to go south when he moved to Chelsea in 2022. His form deteriorated from world class standards and he wasn’t selected for England’s Euros squad this past summer, which went on to lose in the Final to Spain. To make matters worse, new Chelsea new coach Enzo Maresca essentially exiled him from the club. Chelsea refused to give him a chance, but fortunately an opportunity arose when Arsenal secured Sterling on loan.
With the move from one London club to another, Sterling—and certainly Arsenal fans—will be hopeful for one of sport's greatest storylines: redemption. A reunion with Mikel Arteta, who was Guardiola's top assistant during Sterling's time in Manchester, could be just what the former Golden Boy needs.
Watch this space—there’s a chance the winger finds his best form once more.
Victor Osimhen's redemption: making it back to the big stage
While it may sound crazy, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest Victor Osimhen is already a legend in the game. In the 2022/23 Serie A season, Osimhen lead Napoli, the famed adopted home of Diego Maradona, to it’s first league title since the days of the mercurial Argentinian.
Not only that, but the Nigerian finished the season as the league's top scorer with 26 goals, becoming the first African to lead Serie A in goals. After these achievements, Osimhen was linked with clubs like Real Madrid, but a move to a bigger club never materialized.
Luciano Spalletti, the coach who led Napoli to their title, stepped aside, which brought a revolving door of coaches and some uncertainty to the club. Napoli would follow up their title run with a 10th-place finish in 2023/24.
Current manager Antonio Conte froze Osimhen out of the club and it seemed inevitable he would join Chelsea or PSG on a permanent transfer during the summer transfer window, but negotiations broke down. Enter a loan to Galatasaray. The Turkish giants are a storied club, but the Süper Lig isn’t among Europe's top leagues and is far from the spotlight a player of Osimhen's caliber deserves.
At 25 years old with a history of scoring important goals at the highest level, Osimhen will hope to use his time in Turkey as a way to reignite the interest by the world's biggest clubs. A dominant season at Galatasary and clubs worthy of his talent will surely line up for his services once more—and that's a redemption arc worth keeping an eye on.
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