Christine Sinclair: the making of soccer’s most lethal striker
Diana Matheson is driving but can’t help checking her phone. She knows she shouldn’t, but the temptation is too much.
She pulls over to devote her full attention to her phone.
Matheson is being distracted by events in Edinburg, Texas, where a crowd of 820 people are watching history being made.
Although it might not sound spectacular, it is a landmark goal: her 185th for her country, meaning the Canadian has just become the all-time leader for international goals scored by both men and women.
Matheson, a longtime Canada teammate of Sinclair’s, watched the replay of the history-making goal in January, 2020, on her phone. It was a journey she will never forget.
“It was a big moment,” Matheson – who made 206 appearances, scoring 19 goals, for Canada – told CNN. “The fact that a Canadian holds the goal-scoring record in the world’s most popular game is, I mean, it’s unbelievable.”
Sinclair’s name is etched in the record books, ahead of soccer luminaries such as Abby Wambach, Mia Hamm and Cristiano Ronaldo.
And the 40-year-old has a chance to add further records to her name as she leads Canada at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
She could become the first player of either sex to score in six World Cups – she became just the second to score in five editions in 2019, after Marta had done so. Ronaldo becoming the third to do so in 2022.
From becoming Canada’s young-ever player when she made her debut aged 16 to arguably soccer’s greatest ever goal scorer, Sinclair has led quite the life. With this likely her last World Cup, she has one final opportunity to add ‘world champion’ to her long list of achievements.
Diana Matheson is driving but can’t help checking her phone. She knows she shouldn’t, but the temptation is too much. She pulls over to devote her full attention to her phone. Matheson is being distracted by events in Edinburg, Texas, where a crowd of 820 people are watching history being made. Christine Sinclair has just tapped home…