Canadian legend Christine Sinclair retires from professional soccer

Christine Sinclair, one of the founding players for the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League, announced on Friday that she retiring from the game.

Sinclair will finish out the season with the Thorns. Portland plans to honor her before the final regular season home game on Nov. 1.

The 41-year-old Burnaby-raised Sinclair retired from the Canadian national team last year, finishing her international career as the world’s top goal scorer among both women and men with 190 goals. She also led the way when Team Canada’s women’s soccer team won gold at the 2020 Olympics.

Sinclair is among just three active players in the National Women’s Soccer League who have played for the same team since the league launched in 2013.

She helped the Thorns win the inaugural NWSL championship, before adding additional titles titles in 2017 and 2022. She scored Portland’s first-ever goal in a match against FC Kansas City on April 13, 2013.

Over 11 seasons she has scored a club record 64 goals with the team, ranking her third all-time in the league.

With the Canadian national team, Sinclair won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She won bronze medals at both the 2012 and 2016 Games.

She is also among just five players to appear in six Women’s World Cups, and one of just three players to score in five. But a World Cup trophy eluded her.

When she announced her retirement from the national team last year, Sportsnet 650 Host Dan Riccio pointed out there’s only one way to sum up Sinclair.

“The best ever,” he says. “[It’s been] an incredible career. One of the greatest athletes Canada has ever produced.”

Sinclair has been a leader on and off the pitch.

“It’s everything she’s done. She’s even recently called the most recent bout with Canada Soccer the biggest fight of her career, so yes, of course, she’s doing things on the women’s side to increase and get closer to equal pay, which they deserve,” he explained.

“With Christine Sinclair, especially, in the Canadian soccer program, the women have led the way for pretty much forever, until recently the men’s program didn’t have any success outside of a 2000 Gold Cup win.”

To call her athleticism magical is also an understatement.

“Her ability was to always find the open space on the pitch, to always pop into that right space at the right time to score the big goal and she had physical gifts that other players just didn’t have,” Riccio said.

“She was just incredible in the way she went about understanding the game, understanding where the opportunities were going to open up and she made her career based on that.”