Eva Gaetino talks about developing an attacking perspective in Paris – Equalizer Soccer

Photo courtesy of Paris Saint-Germain

“It was always my dream to play in Europe.”

This statement may have come from some players over the years, but moving to Europe as a young American is no easy feat. But for Eva Gaetino, this was a dream move.

Gaetino began her professional career with Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital, following in the footsteps of former U.S. women's national team players such as Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. And now she's learning from her best players in her position. Already in her first season, she became the youngest American player to score in the final tournament of the UEFA Women's Champions League. These performances earned her a call-up to her USWNT for the first time.

The recent trend of Americans expanding into Europe, particularly France, has accelerated with Catarina Macario joining Lyon in 2021 instead of entering the NWSL Draft and Lindsay Horan joining from the Portland Thorns. There is. Both players achieved success by winning the UEFA Women's Champions League title with Lyon in 2022. They are among the few Americans to have achieved this feat.

This trend continued, with the departure of Corbin Albert to Paris Saint-Germain in 2022 and Gaetino in the summer of 2023, further strengthening America's presence in European soccer.

Given that Gaetino is still a relatively new name, her appearance on a major European team currently playing in the UWCL semi-finals has garnered intrigue and interest. More and more Americans are being exposed to top-level competition in Europe, and that can only benefit the national team.

But who is Eva Gaetino? Many will know her from her recent call-up to the USWNT, but we need to know who she is as a player.

equalizer Ahead of PSG's UWCL match against Olympique Lyonnais, we had the chance to speak with the young centre-back star, where she talked about her development, her current role at Paris Saint-Germain and what she's looking forward to in the upcoming semi-finals. We talked.