The last time Canada hosted an international women’s youth soccer tournament 12 years ago, a starry-eyed Christine Sinclair was paving the way for what has been a supreme career by winning the golden boot as the top scorer and the golden ball as the MVP.

As Sarah Kinzner laces on her boots for her second stint on a Team Canada in mere months, she can look ahead to perhaps one day suiting up beside the legend as her own career blossoms.

“Always keeping your goal in the back of your mind, trying to make it to that next level,” the Calgarian offered, speaking on the phone from Mexico City. “Possibly playing with Sinclair one day — that would be great. I’m just focusing, taking it day by day on what you can do to possibly reach that goal in the future.”

The 16-year-old out of Calgary Foothills is one of the 21-member Canadian squad that will take part in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup which will be staged next month on our soil.

“I’m so excited,” Kinzner, who turns 17 on Aug. 28, said. “It’s such an opportunity to represent my country again, especially since the World Cup is in Canada. You can inspire your nation right at home, have lots of fans out to support you, which is awesome.”

Kinzner is one of four girls on the team that also reached the quarter-finals at the FIFA U-17 tournament in Costa Rica in March, making her one of the youngest to be called upon.

“It’s such an opportunity to play with these older girls,” she conceded. “They are very experienced and it’s a challenge to play with them. But I think I’ve grown a lot as a player and I’ve learned so much, especially because they’ve taught me, as well as the coaches. It’s a great environment to learn from.”

Her stint in Costa Rica was one of those special moments.

“I learned that you have to grow as a player,” she explained. “If something’s not working, you can’t get frustrated because you’re playing the best players in the world. You need to remain calm and just enjoy the experience, basically, because it’s such an opportunity to play for your country.”

The Canadian team has been in Mexico for a little while, bonding and working out in the afternoons at the Mexican Football Federation National Training Centre. They’ve also played a couple of pre-tournament friendlies against the host country, drawing 0-0 in the first and losing 3-0 on Sunday in the rain.

“It was a great challenge,” Kinzner said of the first game, “and it was good to see how we compare to other countries around the world leading up to the World Cup.

“We’re a very close team,” continued the midfielder, who wears No. 16 on the squad. “It’s literally having 21 sisters with you. It’s such a great environment. I think if we stick to the game plan that our coach Andrew (Olivieri) has put together for us, I think we can achieve greatness and make our country proud.”

The tournament begins on Aug. 5 in Toronto and will end at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on Aug. 24. Games will also be played in Edmonton and Moncton. Canada is in Group A along with Ghana, Finland and Korea DPR.