Eva Gaetino

Eva Julianna Gaetino (born December 17, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a center back for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain and the United States national team. She played college soccer for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where she was twice named first-team All-American and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Year.

Early life and college career

Gaetino was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, to Katherine and Brandon Gaetino, and raised with three siblings in Dexter, Michigan. Her mother played college soccer for Virginia Tech; her father for Bucknell; and her younger sister, Bella, for North Carolina. Gaetino played club soccer for the Michigan Hawks, where she won the ECNL national title in 2017. She graduated from Dexter High School.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Gaetino was a four-year starter for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2020 to 2023. In her junior and senior years in 2022 and 2023, she was named first-team All-ACC, first-team All-American, and ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Across those two seasons, she anchored a Fighting Irish defense that recorded 20 shutouts, including three over the first three rounds of the 2022 NCAA tournament.

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

Gaetino signed with Paris Saint-Germain on January 23, 2024, forgoing the 2024 NWSL Draft in which she was predicted to be highly selected. The move reunited her with Notre Dame teammate and friend Korbin Albert. She made her professional debut on February 11, coming in for Jade Le Guilly and assisting Tabitha Chawinga in a 1–1 league draw against perennial champions Lyon. On March 20, she scored her first professional goal on her UEFA Women's Champions League debut, opening a 2–1 win against BK Häcken in the first leg of the quarterfinals. This made her the youngest American to score in the knockout rounds of the competition at the age of 21. She started both legs of the quarterfinals and the semifinals, in which they lost to Lyon 5–3 on aggregate. PSG were also runners-up to Lyon domestically in both the regular season and playoffs of 2023–24, but Gaetino did win her first trophy with the club by beating Fleury 1–0 in the final of the Coupe de France Féminine on May 4. On July 26, 2024, her contract was extended to keep her with PSG through June 2026.

International career

Gaetino played friendlies for the United States national under-23 team in 2023. The following year, she received her first senior team call-up for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup in April. She made her senior debut for the United States on October 30, 2024, starting a friendly against Argentina which finished as a 3–0 victory.