After leading Canada to gold at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021, captain Christine Sinclair came to a realization.
“After Tokyo, deep down inside, I knew I didn’t want to play in Paris,” she said, referencing the 2024 Olympics. “The way the Tokyo Olympics ended, you can’t beat it.
“I wanted to give it one more shot for the World Cup, just because I really thought we could be successful there and we hadn’t been successful in a long time at World Cups.”
It wasn’t to be. Canada came home early from Australia this summer, failing to make the knockout round in Sinclair’s sixth trip to the soccer showcase.
It was not the ending she wanted.
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So Sinclair kept going, helping Canada qualify for the Paris Olympics last month in a 35-minute cameo off the bench in the second leg of the 4-1 aggregate win over Jamaica. But the 40-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., is now calling time on her Canada career, saying she will retire from international football at the end of the year.
“I can sit here and know that I’ve literally done everything I can and given all of me to this national team since I was 16 years old,” she told The Canadian Press. “In terms of what I’ve done and knowing the work I’ve put into it, I have zero regrets. I know I’ve done everything I can for as long as I can. And the team’s in good hands moving forward.”
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While calling an end to her Canada career, Sinclair plans to play one more season for the NWSL Portland Thorns next year.
Sinclair, the world’s all-time leading scorer with 190 goals from 327 senior appearances, is expected to play four more games for 10th-ranked Canada, starting with two friendlies later this month against No. 9 Brazil — in Montreal on Oct. 28 and Halifax on Oct. 31.
Canada Soccer is expected to announce two home more games for the last FIFA international window of the year, which runs Nov. 27 to Dec. 6. A source said one of the games will be in Vancouver against 11th-ranked Australia. The other game is expected to be in the same region against the same opponent.
Four home games will allow Sinclair to say goodbye on home soil.
“That just made my decision very easy,.” she said. “Playing for the national team as long as I have, we have not been able to play at home a lot. It will be special for me.”
Sinclair celebrates after a goal in 2003. (Associated Press)
‘It’s just time’
Sinclair is clearly at peace with the decision.
“For me it’s just time,” she said. “I’ve started to catch myself thinking about going on vacation, spending time with my family, going to my cabin — that five years ago would never have crossed my mind. But at the same time, it excites me to play professionally [for Portland] but where you have one thing to focus on. It just seemed like time.”
Sinclair has been the face of Canadian soccer for a long time, a world-class talent with down-home values. Not one to seek the spotlight, she did most of her talking on the pitch.
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She made scoring goals look easy, by simply putting the ball where the goalkeeper isn’t.
“She doesn’t do anything outrageous,” Canadian forward Janine Beckie said in 2020. “Like she’s not the kind of player that flicks the ball over her head, juggles it five times and hits it upper 90 [top left or right of the goal]. There are those kind of players but they are up-and-down players.
American Brandi Chastain, left, battles for the ball with Sinclair in a 2000 exhibition match. (AFP via Getty Images)
“She’s the most consistent strikers I’ve ever played with because she’s one of the most simple that I’ve ever seen. She does all the fundamental things to the best of her ability.
“You don’t really notice her too much until she puts it in the back of the net,” added then-Canada coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller. “But if you go to some of our sessions, you can see how hard she is working to be that unnoticeable player that puts a shift in, then all of a sudden turns up in the penalty area.”
Sinclair also helped the Canadian team craft an environment that welcomes young and old — and everything and everyone in-between.
Sinclair says she would like to get into coaching after she retires for good, although not as a head coach.
“That’s seem awful and stressful and something that doesn’t interest me at this point,” Sinclair said with a laugh. “But the thought of being a unit-specific coach, like for the strikers for instance, is something that excites me.
“But then at the same time when I do stop playing for good, I know I’m going to have a lot of opportunities and options.”
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Difficult lead-up to World Cup
Sinclair endured a difficult lead-up to the World Cup, as captain of a team battling its governing body in a lengthy labour dispute that has yet to be resolved.
“Obviously there’s still a lot of work to be done, in terms of the pipeline for youth players and youth national teams and a professional league,” she said. “I still have that fear that if we don’t change some things, we’ll get left behind as a program. But in terms of the players that are there, they’re fine. They’re going to be great,”
Having said that, Sinclair says the competition is getting tougher. The recent World Cup showed that are more top contenders than ever before.
It has been a long haul in Canadian colours.
Sinclair made her senior debut at 16 — then Canada’s youngest-ever player — in March 2000 in a 4-0 loss to China at the Algarve Cup. She scored her first goal two days in her second senior outing, beating star goalkeeper Bente Nordby in a 2-1 loss to Norway.
Sinclair had already impressed at youth level, scoring 27 goals in 19 international matches. Ten of those goals came during Canada’s run to the final of the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in Edmonton in 2002.
Sinclair broke Abby Wambach’s world-record total of 184 goals on Jan. 29, 2020, with her second goal in a 12-0 romp over St. Kitts and Nevis at the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship at H-E-B Park in Edinburg, Tex.
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The record-tying goal came on a penalty kick in the seventh minute. The milestone 185th goal came in the 23rd minute as Sinclair, left alone, converted an Adriana Leon feed.
Never one to blow her own horn, Sinclair had been more worried that her record chase would serve as a distraction to the team.
Sinclair was playing in her 290th career game for Canada. Wambach, who retired in 2015, compiled her total in 255 games.
St. Kitts, then ranked No. 127 in the world, became the 41st country Sinclair had scored on.
Olympic legacy
Sinclair played in four Olympics, also leading the team to bronze in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Her hat trick in a 4-3 loss after extra time in the U.S. in the 2012 London semifinal remains an indelible memory for many. And after the loss, she rallied her downcast teammates in the locker-room.
It was a rare speech from the skipper.
“I think often the best leaders, they don’t say much but when they speak, people listen. Because they don’t say much,” said John Herdman, then coach of the women’s team.
“I get emotional every time I think about the speech,” said goalkeeper Erin McLeod.
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The Canadian women defeated France 1-0 in the bronze-medal game thanks to a Diana Matheson goal in stoppage time. The medal came 13 months after Canada finished dead last at the 2011 World Cup.
Sinclair’s role has changed in recent times.
She started games against Nigeria and Australia at the World Cup and came off the bench to start the second half against Ireland, helping turn the tide with fellow veteran Sophie Schmidt in a 2-1 comeback win.
Canada coach Bev Priestman praised her captain for her attitude and work ethic ahead of the World Cup, saying she did “brilliantly” in pre-tournament fitness testing.
Sinclair’s greatness was portended early in her career as she was awarded the Golden Boot for top scorer at the FIFA U19 Women’s World Cup in 2002. (Canadian Press)
She also credited Sinclair for continuing to evolve.
“She makes critical passes, is critical to this team,” Priestman said in July. “But what I do know is this team is no longer just about Christine Sinclair. I think we’ve got the depth across the forward line, the midfield line, to not rely on anyone for every single minute across the tournament and I think that’s what you’ll see [at the tournament].
“But I think she’s critical to this team’s success.”
Goal No. 190 came July 5, 2022, in a 6-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago at the CONCACAF W Championship in Guadalupe, Mexico.
Sinclair has been held off the scoresheet in the 16 games since, some of which saw her play in a more withdrawn midfield role. Of her 327 appearances for Canada, 312 were starts.
At 40 years, 38 days at the start of this summer’s World Cup, Sinclair was the second-oldest player at the tournament (behind Nigeria’s Onome Ebi’s 40 years, 73 days).
Sinclair had a penalty kick saved in the Nigeria game, which prevented her from becoming the first player — male or female — to score in six World Cups.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
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