{"id":48225,"date":"2023-10-21T15:40:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T19:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=48225"},"modified":"2023-10-21T19:58:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T23:58:41","slug":"christine-sinclair-meant-for-canwnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2023\/10\/21\/christine-sinclair-meant-for-canwnt\/","title":{"rendered":"Christine Sinclair And What She Meant for the CanWNT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christine Sinclair, a 6\u20190\u2033 player, 40-year-old, born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the game (men or women) announced her retirement on Friday morning. Sinclair played a big part of building the CanWNT program and fanbase to what it is today from the humble beginnings. She will be\u00a0 remembered as the Greatest of all Time with the Canadian national team and also as possibly the greatest of all time in the women\u2019s international game.<\/p>\n

Christine Sinclair: Her Legacy with the CanWNT<\/h2>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/CanadaSoccerEN\/status\/1715362570368885124<\/p>\n

Christine Sinclair: Her CanWNT Start<\/h3>\n

Sinclair made her debut with the national senior team in the 2000 Algarve Cup. She scored three goals in that tournament and led the competition in goals scored at only 16 years old. Sinclair would continue her success in the 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, where she scored seven goals in the tournament, tied for the lead with USWNT forward, Tiffeny Milbrett and her fellow teammate and captain at the time, Charmaine Hooper.<\/p>\n

Then, in the 2003 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, Sinclair stepped up. She scored three goals in the tournament, including scoring a goal in a key 3-1 win over Japan. She also kept Canada in the game in the bronze game against the U.S. in 2003, which Canada ended up losing 3-1. However, that 2003 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, where they finished fourth still stands as the best-ever performance by the Canadian national team in the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

In the 2007 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, Sinclair scored a late goal against Australia, which almost led to Canada making the knockout stage of the World Cup. She also scored two goals in another group stage game, where Canada won 4-0 over Ghana.<\/p>\n

2008 Summer Olympics and 2010 Concacaf Women\u2019s World Cup Qualifying<\/h3>\n

The Canadians advanced to the 2008 Summer Olympics thanks to a Melissa Tancredi goal in the 25-minute in the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. This is what a then 25-year-old Sinclair said about qualifying for the Olympics (source: Lindsey Craig of CBC Sports):<\/p>\n

“It was sweet revenge, absolutely perfect,” Sinclair said<\/a>. “Just thinking, ‘You’re going to be an Olympian.’ It just tops them all.”<\/p>\n

The game was tied 1-1 in the final against the USWNT, where it went to penalties. Sinclair made her penalty, but was unable to secure the trophy as Canada had one more missed penalty than the U.S. in the 2008 Concacaf Women\u2019s Olympic Tournament.<\/p>\n

Sinclair scored two goals in the Olympics, one against China, and another one against the USWNT. The Canadians lost against to the U.S., but Sinclair kept her team in the game with a goal in the 30-minute.<\/p>\n