Few storylines will be followed as closely at the Women’s World Cup as Christine Sinclair’s quest to become the top international scorer in women’s soccer.

With 180 goals to her name, the 35-year-old striker — Canadian’s captain and most capped player at 280 games — is four goals away from matching American striker Abby Wambach’s record of 184.

To be clear, though, matching the record isn’t what Sinclair is after.

“We’re going for five, we’re not going for four,” she said Thursday at the BMO Training Ground, where the Canadians have spent the past week preparing for their final match on home soil, a friendly against Mexico at BMO Field on Saturday, before the tournament kicks off June 7 in France.

It was a little difficult for Sinclair to put the record out of her mind in recent months. Teammates have been yelling and chanting with each goal, reminding her how many she needs to break the mark. Now, all that good-natured noise has been drowned in pursuit of a World Cup. Sinclair said she hasn’t thought of the record at all during this camp, with bigger things on the line.

“If the record happens to break, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’ll do it later,” Sinclair said.

It’s that kind of focus that continues to make Sinclair one of the best in the game. She has scored three goals for the national team in 2019, while playing a full 90 minutes in four of six matches. Her eight goals for the Portland Thorns, meanwhile, rank seventh in the National Women’s Soccer League.

It’s easy to assume Sinclair is nearing the end of her playing days based solely on her age, but the forward is showing no signs of slowing down. The young talent around her on the international stage seems to have energized Sinclair.

“The competitive person in me sees them doing something and I’m like, ‘OK then, I’m going to do it better,’” she said of her younger Canadian teammates. “That’s just how I am.”

Her teammates are on a long list of people, along with family, friends and coaches, who Sinclair expects she will be thinking of when she eventually bags goal No. 185: “Without any of them it wouldn’t be possible.”

That goal will be more than a record-setter for Sinclair.

“I think it’ll just be a moment of relief, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “Just proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish and the longevity of my career, and being able to have adapted with the game, kept pace with the game as it’s changed.”

Sinclair has been a durable performer throughout her career. Long-time teammates Diana Matheson and Erin McLeod haven’t been so lucky in recent years.

The team announced Thursday that Matheson and McLeod have been ruled out for the World Cup because of injuries. Neither player had missed a Women’s World Cup since 2003, when Canada placed a team-best fourth.

Many things about the women’s game have changed since then, including the level of expectation that comes with being a member of the Canadian side, now ranked fifth in the world. After winning Olympic bronze in 2012 and 2016, the team and its fans are hoping a spot in a World Cup final.

“I’ve been waiting my entire career for, in a way, this pressure and expectation,” Sinclair said. “To be a top-five team in the world is a remarkable achievement for Canada and this group of players. We’re right there.”

Getting to the final on July 7 will require more than a handful of goals. Beating the best in the world at the top of their game takes skill, strength and stamina. The Canadians proved could do that by defeating No. 3-ranked England 1-0 in Manchester in April. In France, they need that kind of performance on a consistent basis.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Beating England in England this year really gave us the confidence that we can literally beat anyone,” Sinclair said. “Now it’s just a matter of doing it in a big tournament, where you beat a Germany and then the next game you have to beat France, and then the game after that you have to beat the U.S.

“It’s a matter of us putting it together when it matters most.”

Read more about: