What to watch for in Christine Sinclair’s last game for Team Canada

For 17 years, Diana Matheson shared a field with Christine Sinclair and was privy to moments not even the biggest fans of the greatest goal-scorer in soccer history have seen or heard of.

Like the Sinclair elbow that landed in Matheson’s face during their first on-field meeting, while both were playing for their provincial teams at an all-star tournament in 2001 or so. “Once I knew her later, she just blamed it on me being short,” says Matheson, who stands a hair over five feet, compared to Sinclair’s five-foot-nine. “She took no credit for it.”

Matheson, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist and author of the final game-winner at London 2012, will be in the crowd on Tuesday night in Vancouver along with more than 20 Team Canada alumni to watch Sinclair’s final game for her country at B.C. Place Stadium, which has been renamed ‘Christine Sinclair Place’ for the evening.

“I have had the pleasure of watching Sinc for many, many games,” says Matheson, who’s heading up a new professional Canadian women’s soccer league, set to kick off in 2025. “And it’s a shame that, you know, the first half of her career — the first 10 years plus, really — wasn’t on screens for Canadians to watch and enjoy. She has probably 150 goals people never even saw, which is crazy.”

Absolutely crazy. And since Matheson has seen more of Sinclair’s career than nearly anyone, she shared some special insight — a viewer’s guide — on what to watch for while the greatest of all time plays for the very last time for Canada.

The pregame

Sinclair doesn’t have superstitions as far as her socks or a jersey tuck or a special colour of headband, Matheson says. But she does have a pregame routine she’s been doing for more than a decade.

“For the fans in the stadium early enough, they might be able to see this,” Matheson says. “Once the team’s arrived in the stadium and before warmup, she always goes out onto the field and she takes it in at the centre circle and watches both of the goals. She kind of crouches at the half-way circle and visualizes for a minute. That’s her pregame superstition.”  

Expect “magic”

Where Sinclair can strike from on the pitch has certainly changed over the years. Had you asked Matheson a decade ago where Sinclair was most lethal from, Matheson would’ve laughed and said: “Everywhere.”

“She’s literally the best goal-scorer in the history of the world’s most popular game [with a world-leading 190 international goals], and she is the rare, rare, rare type of person whose heart rate slows when she’s in front of the net,” Matheson says. “It didn’t matter where she had the ball — if she had a chance to score, she just had this incredible ability to put the ball in the net where the goalkeeper wasn’t. And that sounds really simple. That she was the best in the world in the game at doing that is incredible.”

Matheson is expecting her long-time teammate to find the back of the net Tuesday night.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Sinc didn’t have a bit of magic and tuck one in the back of the net this last game,” she says. “Whether that’s a burst of speed, or from where she’s been in more recent years, coming off the front of the defenders, getting the ball a little deeper, making something happen, following up the play and tucking one in the net.”

Sinclair’s ability to calm and inspire confidence

All eyes will be on Sinclair, but Matheson suggests also watching No. 12’s teammates to help understand her true influence on the team.

“Sinc is a different player now than she was 10 years ago, like, she’s 40. I think you can watch the impact she has on the team around her. And the Canadian team when Sinc’s on just has a level of confidence and calm that can sometimes go missing when Sinc’s not on the field,” Matheson says. “These days it’s more the impact that she has on the team when she’s on the field.”

Her relationship with the spotlight

Sinclair will be joined by two other long-time national team members who have also announced their retirement, midfielder Sophie Schmidt and goalkeeper Erin McLeod, who’ll also be honoured Tuesday.

“Sinc has never been one that likes the spotlight just on her, so I think she’s grateful it’s not just her,” Matheson says.

How much does Sinclair like the spotlight, on a scale of 1-10? “She’s a 1.5 out of 10,” Matheson says.

Not bad.

“Like much else that revolves around Sinc, I think she understands that it’s coming her way because she’s the GOAT — like, she knows that. She usually finds it all a bit much,” Matheson says. “I was in front of the team [last week], I was updating them on the pro league stuff, playing our games possibly at Christine Sinclair Place, and I got a pretty solid eye roll for that one.”

The No. 12 Cocktail

Christine Sinclair Place will be serving up a special ‘No. 12 Cocktail’ Tuesday night. Matheson has no idea what’s in it, but she took a guess.

“Maybe a G&T — I think that would be her preferred option,” she says. “But I don’t know, I feel like if it’s a special Christine Sinclair cocktail, it’s got to be a little more special than a G&T with a lime.”

Maybe they’ll dye it red?

That Sinclair personality… that fans probably won’t see

Matheson was a self-described “introvert” when she first joined the national team back in 2003. “Sinc always was too, so it probably took us many months to become friends,” Matheson says, laughing.

What Matheson grew to appreciate about Sinclair was the conversation over meals that continued well after all the food was eaten, or chats on the way to coffee shops. “We’d spend hours talking about everything and nothing,” she says. “I think she’s obviously a little more introverted when it comes to the public, but she’s got a quick, wicked sense of humour. And she’s good for a really quick one-liner.”

Matheson’s message to Sinclair, if she were in that dressing room Tuesday before the game

“I hope she feels like this last one in B.C. is a celebration more than anything,” Matheson says. “I think I would just tell her, ‘Enjoy it.’ And maybe, ‘Let’s get you one more goal.’”