I’m sure Buchanan will be fine with it.
For the past three years this space has been calling for another player to be recognized as the top female player. At times, that could have been interpreted as us “hating” (as the kids say today).
No, we were just trying to acknowledge that there were others that were deserving to be recognized for what they were doing. Others that, in many ways, may have had even less of a profile today than they would have without Sinclair’s legacy.
This past summer saw the women become heroes in Canada and an inspiration to young players of both genders. That was because they were hosting a World Cup that Canada might not have even bid for without Sinclair's brilliance. She was reasons one through ten that Canada was a top program for much of the decade that preceded the World Cup bid.
With 158 career goals, Sinclair sits second all-time on the international goal scoring list. Ironically, she passed Mia Hamm on the same week she lost her title as Canada’s top player. At 0.69 goals per game, she has scored at virtually the same rate as the No 1 ranked player on that list, Abby Wambach (0.71).
Wambach retired yesterday. She is 26 goals ahead of Sinclair.
Which begs the question…
Let’s say Sinclair played through the 2019 World Cup and scored at a 0.50 rate during that time. Since Canada plays about 15 games a year typically that would mean that Les Rouge would have about 60 games until then.
That’s about 30 more goals. Huh.
Sinclair would be 36.
Maybe the Queen isn’t dead yet after all – especially now that she has others that are helping her with her reign…..