TORONTO — Christine Sinclair still receives the loudest pre-game roar when lineups are announced.

At 34, she's still the most sought after signature after the final whistle -- with hundreds of little girls leaning over field-side rails.

And rightly so. The Canadian soccer legend — one of the world’s all-time greats — is approaching two decades of service. Sinclair once was one of the best in her sport.

Heck, she has been competing longer than her 16-yer-old teammate, Jordyn Huitema, has been alive.

Huitema, who replaced Sinclair Sunday afternoon, scored a pair of second-half goals in a 6-0 demolition of Costa Rica at BMO Field — a result that offered a glimpse at what this Canadian women’s team will look like moving forward.

With all due respect to Sinclair, whose legacy is cemented in Canadian soccer lore, John Herdman’s side no longer is a one-woman show. They’ve moved beyond having a single focal point they depend on to get results.

Canada’s coach said as much post-game when he pondered how involved Sinclair will be at the next Women’s World Cup.

“Jordyn was 14 years old when she first came into our national squad,” Herdman said of one of his emerging talents. “You know, now she’ll be pushing Sinclair, I’m sure, in 2019 and 2020 for that starting spot.”

If not already. Herdman’s next tactical headache could be sorting how and when and where to deploy Sinclair among the most talented group of attacking players this country has produced.

Jessie Flemming, 19, is the preferred playmaker now behind 22-year-old Janine Beckie, who registered a first-half hat-trick Sunday afternoon, and Deanne Rose, 18, whose pace is a weapon Herdman can’t ignore.

If it hasn’t occurred already, Sunday’s performance served as a passing of the torch for a team that for too long relied on a single player to perform miracles against superior competition -- like the U.S. and Germany and Japan.

“That’s how we’ve evolved,” Herdman said. “People have worked really hard in our system to build a structure over the last four years to ensure the right players are coming through at the right time.

“This is an exciting group. This is one of the youngest teams in the world at this point. They’ve got a great future ahead … But there’s a 13-year-old somewhere that’s going to be 16 in 2020 and pushing these girls.”

The majority are going to be pushing back for years to come. Excluding Sinclair and veteran Sophie Schmidt, Herdman’s starting lineup Sunday averaged 21.13 years of age.

Defender Kadeisha Buchanan, 21, already is considered one of the best at her position in the world having recently moved overseas last December to play at Lyon.

Next to her, defender Ashley Lawrence, 22, is one of the best attacking fullbacks around the globe. She, too, moved to France in January to play at Paris Saint-Germain. She's only beginning to scratch the surface given she only recently transitioned to defence.

While Sunday’s blowout win certainly was a product of the competition, there’s mounting evidence to suggest Canada’s women aren’t far off from being considered one of the world’s top teams.

“I don’t think we’re there yet, to be honest,” Herdman said. “We’re a good two years away from that. I feel like I can get consistency now with our starting lineup.

“The players I’ve got now I know are going to be here because they’re healthy and young and aren’t breaking down with injuries because they’re in their late 20s or early 30s.

“This team will have to play faster, for sure, when we go up against the Germans or the U.S. in a World Cup semifinal or final, whenever we get there.”

The difference now is Canada undoubtedly has the players to go toe-to-toe with the top two or three sides in the world. They have an array of offensive weapons.

The same couldn’t be said as recent as two or three years ago.

In his search for the next Christine Sinclair, Herdman just might have unearthed a half-dozen of them.