Christine Sinclair to retire from international soccer
The international leading goal-scorer is stepping away from the Canadian National Team at the end of 2023.
The GOAT is hanging up her boots — for her international team, anyway.
Portland Thorns forward Christine Sinclair has announced that she will leave international soccer and the Canada Women’s National Team at the end of 2023. Her international career will end after 24 years of appearances for Canada, which have had a transformative effort on the sport domestically and around the world.
Before your freak out, don’t worry: Sinclair announced via social media she appears to be set for one last season with the Portland Thorns in 2024, so it isn’t quite time to watch the Thorns legend ride off into the sunset just yet.
The speculation over Sinclair’s international future kicked off on Thursday night, when she posted a video on social media showing soccer cleats hanging on the crossbar of a goal. On Friday morning, it was confirmed that this referred to her international retirement and not a domestic one, to the relief of Thorns fans who weren’t ready to say goodbye to Sincy.
Sinclair’s glittering international career is nothing short of legendary. Having made 327 first-team international appearances for Canada, Sinclair has captained her squad to a variety of international honors. Those include a Concacaf Championship in 2010, back-to-back Olympic Bronze Medals in 2012 and 2016, and an Olympic Gold Medal in 2021 — Canada’s first.
“Very few players can lace up their boots and transcend a sport both in this country and globally. Christine has done just that — both as a player and a person,” said Canada Women’s National Team Head Coach Bev Priestman in a statement via Canada Soccer. “She is known and admired by all Canadians and has been pivotal in every single country stopping moment. I feel very fortunate and privileged to have worked with Christine, the greatest of all time, not only in what she has done but in how she has done it.”
Sinclair stands alone atop the mountain of international goal scoring. She holds the all-time record for international goals scored with 190 — a number no other player can claim. Between her prowess on the the field and the seismic change she has inspired off of it for Canada and abroad, there is no denying that Christine Sinclair can truly claim the Greatest Of All Time mantle.
On her international legacy and impact, Priestman summed it up best: “The moment when Christine’s last kick or final whistle goes for this country, she can leave the field knowing she has changed this game forever, inspired an entire generation, and paved a better future for all through her work off the pitch. That is one tremendous legacy.”
You can read Canada Soccer’s full press release on Sinclair’s international retirement here.
Sinclair’s final games with Canada will be in December of this year. And if the reporting and her social media are to be believed, we will get one last year to appreciate and celebrate the GOAT in the Rose City in 2024.
I wish I thought the club had an actual plan that would maximize what’s left of her strengths, and the league allowed a big enough roster to allow for a “player emeritus”, and the new ownership has a fat enough wallet to take her cap hit.
As it is? It’s been sad to watch this great player rubbish her legacy with years of declining ability that have hurt her club (and at the last OG, finally, her country; oh, that penalty!).
Her coaches and managers and friends should really stage some sort of intervention. It’s time to retire. Period. Full stop, so we can give her the love and honor she’s earned, so we can build her statue at 18th & Morrison in gratitude for all the great memories, and wish her well with unmixed happiness as she begins the next chapter.
https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-2023-nwsl-award-finalists
Coffey and Soph both MVP candidates.
Rant alert: HOW IN THE HELL is Nahas not a COTY candidate? The job he’s done with a talent deficient NCC is miles more impressive than what Amoros did with Gotham, and light years more than Stoney. He’s turned Tyler Lussi into a real starting level winger! They play lovely soccer! Their lineup is Kerolin, Miura, Manaka, Fox, and a bunch of randoms! I thought they would be the second worst team in the league before the season! List should be Nahas, Tweed, Amoros, Stoney imo.