Danielle Julia Marcano (born August 20, 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Première Ligue The Première Ligue ( ; sponsor name Arkema Première Ligue) is a professional women's association football league at the highest level of the French football league system, and is run by the Ligue féminine de football professionnel (LFFP). ...

club

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

. Born in the mainland United States, she plays for the Puerto Rico women's national team.

Early life

Danielle Julia Marcano was born to Michael Marcano and his wife Lora in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...

, United States, on August 20, 1997. She has an older brother Ryan who also played college soccer. Marcano attended the private

Greater Atlanta Christian School Greater Atlanta Christian School is a private Christian school located in Norcross, Georgia, United States. Notable alumni * Micah Abernathy, NFL free safety for the Atlanta Falcons * Sherill Baker, former WNBA player, assistant coach for G ...

Norcross, Georgia Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, about 15 miles northeast of Atlanta city limits. According to the 2010 census, the population was 9,116, while in 2020, the population increased to 17,209. Norcross is part of the Atlanta metropol ...

, where she scored 70 goals for her high school team. She was named GHSA Girls' Soccer Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015. Between 2015 and 2018, Marcano studied psychology at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

College career

Marcano played college soccer with the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

from 2015 to 2018 with 76 total appearances, scoring 16 goals including six game-winners, and making seven assists. Initially a wing-back, Marcano was moved to

in 2017. During the first round of the 2017 NCAA Division I tournament, she scored the winning goal against

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

in the 60th minute after coming off the bench to replace the Lady Vols' leading scorer,

Khadija Shaw Khadija Monifa "Bunny" Shaw ( ; born 31 January 1997) is a Jamaican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for FA Women's Super League, Women's Super League club Manchester City W.F. ...

, who was injured in the first three minutes. During the 2018 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, Marcano scored twice against

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, including the winning goal with 55 seconds left in the game, sending the University of Tennessee to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. In the third round, Marcano scored twice again, this time against No. 16-ranked

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, helping to send UT to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time ever. She was named the Player of the Week by TopDrawerSoccer.com in November 2018.

Professional career

Icelandic clubs

In April 2021, she signed a professional contract with the Icelandic club

HK Kópavogur Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to play in the 1. deild karla. She scored six goals in 12 games. In 2022, she transferred to the

besta deild karla The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Ic ...

-club Thróttur Reykjavík, where she capped in 15 league games and in one cup match scoring ten goals in total.

Fenerbahçe

In October 2022, Marcano moved to Turkey, and signed with the

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based club Fenerbahçe S.K. to play in the

2022–23 Women's Super League The 2022–23 Women's Super League season (also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the fifth season after the rebranding o ...

. Her team finished the season as runners-up after losing the play-offs final to Ankara BB Fomget GSK.

Ankara BB Fomget

In August 2023, she transferred to the 2022–23 Turkish Super League champion Ankara BB Fomget GSK. She played in two matches of the

2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying rounds The 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying rounds began on 6 September and ended on 18 October 2023. A total of 66 teams competed in the group stage qualifying rounds of the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League, which included two ...

, and scored two goals in the match against

Hajvalia Hajvalia ( sr-Cyrl, Ајвалија) is a village in the municipality of Pristina, Kosovo. It has a population of 7,702 inhabitants. A small creek begins in the town, while another begins north-east of the town and runs through it. After 1970, t ...

from Kosova.

FC Nantes feminines

January 18 2025, Danielle score her first goal against Stade de Reims. Next week, in French Cup, she dit it again against Paris Saint Germain.

International career

During her high school years, Marcano was part of the U.S. national player pool, and called up to camp in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, she was part of the U.S. women's national U-17 soccer team.

Career statistics

International goals

Honors

During her career, she was honored with following awards: Greater Atlanta Christian School *

Georgia High School Association The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is an organization that governs athletics and activities for member high schools in Georgia, USA. GHSA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The association has 46 ...

(GHSA) State League: 2012, 2014. Fenerbahçe S.K. *

Turkish Women's Football Super League The Women's Football Super League, also known as the Turkcell Women's Football Super League () for sponsorship reasons, is the top level women's Association football, football league of Turkey. In the 2024–25 Turkish Women's Football Super Leagu ...

Runners-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual * GHSA Girls' Soccer Player of the Year for all classifications (2014) * GHSA Class AA Girls' Soccer Player of the Year (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcano, Danielle 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Red Bank, New Jersey Greater Atlanta Christian School alumni University of Tennessee alumni Tennessee Volunteers women's soccer players Women's association football forwards Soccer players from Monmouth County, New Jersey American women's soccer players American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur players American expatriate soccer players FC Nantes (women) players American expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate women's footballers in Turkey Turkish Women's Football Super League players Fenerbahçe S.K. (women's football) players Fomget Gençlik ve Spor players Puerto Rican women's footballers Puerto Rico women's international footballers Puerto Rican expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century Puerto Rican sportswomen