The Canadian women’s soccer team put themselves in a very strong position to move on to the CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying semifinals, thanks to an impressive 6-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago last week in Group B action.
In the process, Burnaby native Christine Sinclair became the second all-time scorer in international women’s soccer.
Goals by Diana Matheson, off a strong run in the 24th minute, and Melissa Tancredi gave Canada a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Sinclair, who didn’t start the game, entered midway through the second half and two minutes later cashed in her 159th international goal, surpassing American Mia Hamm for second all-time.
It sparked a run of goals for the Red-and-White, as Kadeisha Buchanan (67’), Janine Beckie (76’), and Jessie Fleming (80’) wrapped up the offence.
“It’s an incredible honour,” said Sinclair after the match. “But it’s so nice to get it off my back. I had a couple of games without scoring a goal and it was weighing on me a little bit, so it’s nice to get it out of the way and allow myself, and the team, to focus on our goal for this tournament, which is to qualify for the Olympics.”
Matheson, who wore the captain’s armband in Sinclair’s absence to start the game, noted the achievement, which came in the veteran’s 234th cap, is a fitting tribute to the Canadian leader.
“It’s kind of surreal to be able to say I’ve played with her all these years,” said Matheson, reflecting on Sinclair’s milestone goal. “We grew up watching Mia Hamm, and she was just so big and such an amazing player, and now Christine’s passed her and I have no doubt she is going to pass Abby (Wambach) eventually as well.
“For a country like Canada, that doesn’t play as many games, doesn’t beat teams eight or ten nothing usually, for her to score that many goals over the years is just an incredible accomplishment. It’s pretty unbelievable what she’s done.”
Sinclair said the focus remains on securing a berth to Rio.
“Heading into the group stage this was our goal, to win our first two games handily,” she said. “We’ve got great depth on this team and we’ll be able to rest some players through all three games, so come the semi-finals, whoever we play, we will be as fresh as possible."
