Captain Canada lifts women’s soccer to new heights
The picture, John Herdman said. That was what he used to remind himself. The picture. He sat down at the news conference with Christine Sinclair, both of them still awash in the moment, and it was the first thing he mentioned.
“It’s great to see Christine smiling, you know?” said Herdman, the English-born Canadian coach, after Canada’s 1-0 victory over France in the Olympic bronzemedal game.
“I have a picture in my office at home, with Christine after the last World Cup, with her head in her hands, and the anger and despair on her face, and I said to the girls this will be my motivation: I’ll never see a player of that quality in that state after a tournament. And Christine had the quote that’s been inspiring us all: You can’t be great until you’ve achieved great things. And getting a medal today was that great thing.”
Canada had won bronze in a game where one goal was scored, and it wasn’t scored by Sinclair. She had already set an Olympic record for goals scored in the tournament with six, including three in the pillar-shaking 4-3 loss to the Americans in the semifinal, and after the third her eyes were like the eyes of a killer on a spree. In this game, she sent an early chance over the bar, and couldn’t corral the first touch on what would have been another; in a game that was so completely played in the Canadian end, with French defenders swarming her the rest of the time, she didn’t get much more.
But she didn’t need to, this time. In the biggest match of her wonderful career, after 143 international goals, Canada didn’t need Sinclair to score. She touched the ball on the final possession, on Canada’s final improbable chance that they pulled out of nowhere, but the ball went away from her, and she watched as little Diana Matheson popped it in.
And Christine Sinclair, 29, had the biggest international result of her career, and she screamed.
“Best moment of my soccer life, for sure, absolutely,” she said.
For so many years, Christine Sinclair was the women’s soccer team. She was the one opponents worried about, the one who would eventually sit tied with American rival Abby Wambach for second in career international goals. After finishing last in the 2011 World Cup, Sinclair was devastated. And as Canada worked its way through the Olympic tournament, losing just one match in regulation, she was the fulcrum. She scored as many goals as the rest of the team combined, on a third of the team’s shots.
But she didn’t need to score the goal at the end. She got to watch it.
“I think the beauty around this tournament is Sinc can now relax,” said Herdman. “The others, now, have now moved into a different level, and we’ve got a fantastic team. And you can pick any one of them players who have stepped up and rose to those heights of greatness.”
And as she sat next to Herdman, it was as if the two of them had been together for years. He threw questions to her, grinning, calling her Sinc, kicking back his chair. As he talked about having taken the program to another level — after just eight months in the job — and the importance of keeping the program there, she nodded. When he said, “So, France was good,” she said, laughing. When he spoke about the picture, she had to blink back tears.
“I know personally after the World Cup last year, I was kind of like a broken soccer player, you know?” she said later, in the mixed zone, wearing her red Team Canada uniform, and a Canada T-shirt underneath.
“I put so much time into this program, and then to finish last at the World Cup, it was heartbreaking, and it was almost like, are we ever going to get there? You know? And then he came along, and he’s pushed me to new heights as an individual as a player. He’s really upped my responsibility with the team, off the field.”
“If you look at her statistics, she has basically as many goals as (American star) Abby Wambach, but the difference is she has not had the support staff that the American team has given Abby,” said Canadian goaltender Erin McLeod. “And no disrespect to Abby, but Sinc has done incredible things, mostly on her own. I think for her, it just must be an amazing feeling to have everybody with her. I mean, she was the first person after the U.S. game to say ‘I’m so proud of you guys, I love you guys, we’re here.’
“And that’s the thing with Sinc. For a long time maybe she was above and beyond this team’s talent, but she’s always stuck with us, and always believed in us the most. And that’s why she’s our captain. I think if anything, she just carried more weight on her shoulders. She’s been comfortable carrying the Canadian soccer team on her back.
That doesn’t mean she can’t stand out, though. Sinclair was asked if she had heard about the push for her to be flag-bearer at the closing ceremony. She nodded, and looked at the floor. And she got a little quieter, a little hushed, almost a little bit shy.
She chose her words carefully. She practically glowed.
“I’ve heard that,” she said, slowly. “I tried not to think about it too much, obviously trying to focus on this game and the game against the U.S.” She looked up. “If it would happen, it would be the hugest honour. I’m such a proud Canadian, and I don’t even know what I’d say if that happened.”
Canada’s story of these Games hasn’t been altogether written, just yet. But right now? Give her the flag. She’s carried it for years, in her own way.