Appointed head coach of the Canadian women鈥檚 soccer team in October 1999, Even Pellerud recalls essentially being handed a blank piece of paper.
鈥淚t was a baby program. It was really nothing to inherit,鈥 he said.
So after arriving in Canada from his native Norway in early 2000, he left his family in Toronto to scout talent. With help from local coaches, he had three practice games set up in three cities.
One player immediately caught his eye at the game in Vancouver.
鈥淥n the right side of the white team there was a player that really stood out with her smartness and speed and skills,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd of course, it didn鈥檛 take a long time before I asked the people 鈥榃ho is this?鈥 And then they said 鈥楾his is just a young player.鈥 And I said 鈥榃ell, give me the name. I want her.鈥欌
It was Christine Sinclair.
鈥淪o that was the first thing I did in Canada,鈥 said Pellerud.
He gave a 16-year-old Sinclair her senior debut that March, making her Canada鈥檚 youngest-ever player at the time, at the 2000 Algarve Cup. She opened her account two days later in a 2-1 win over Norway, becoming Canada鈥檚 youngest-ever scorer (Kara Lang subsequently broke both records).
鈥淓ven though she was immature and young and shy, I think I immediately knew this is the player to build the team around,鈥 said Pellerud. 鈥淏ecause it was her and then you had some of the veterans like Andrea Neil and Silvana Burtini around her to build leadership. That was what I built on. Those veteran players with smartness and leadership and then Sinclair. And then you kind of filled out the team around that.鈥
Sinclair went on to score 15 goals in 2002 and 98 in all during Pellerud鈥檚 nine years at the Canadian helm.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I really remember coaching her a lot,鈥 said Pellerud. 鈥淚 just gave her a position where she could expose her skills. Without over-coaching or over-directing her moves or her decision-making, I think I just gave her a space to be close to the net. Because she was already then a good goal-scorer.鈥
Sinclair鈥檚 world-record total now stands at 190 goals after 23 years on the Canadian team.
The 40-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., calls time on her international career Tuesday in her backyard, against Australia at B.C. Place Stadium, in what will be her 331st appearance for Canada
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While intensely private, Sinclair has helped foster a welcoming and open atmosphere with the women鈥檚 team.
Former Canada coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller, who took over the team in early 2018 when John Herdman switched to the Canadian men, says Sinclair has the biggest influence and impact when 鈥渢he cameras are shut off and the doors are closed and she can be just herself.鈥
鈥淪he is one of these persons that鈥檚 just a connector,鈥 he added. 鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 speak a lot but when she speaks, people listen. But the way she just embraces everyone and takes good care of them, I think she鈥檚 got a very high social knowledge and interest in people. So she can feel or see when people or teammates or staff are not comfortable.鈥
Former teammate Rhian Wilkinson, a Canada Soccer Hall of Famer who won 181 caps in an international career that stretched from 2003 to 2017, says Sinclair is special off the field as well as on it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the gift of some people that they don鈥檛 belong to any one group. They belong to all groups because, I think, straight from Day 1 of meeting her, she was easy to be around and talk to,鈥 said Wilkinson, who later coached Sinclair at the NWSL鈥檚 Portland Thorns. 鈥淎nd then you鈥檇 watch her on the field and she鈥檚 one of the cool kids through ability. She automatically could do whatever she wants.鈥
鈥淪o whether you鈥檙e at your first camp or whether you鈥檙e a friend of hers that鈥檚 been around for 20 odd years, she鈥檒l sit with you and have a conversation and it鈥檚 not a big deal,鈥 Wilkinson added. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 ever occurred to her to limit the ability to talk to everyone. It鈥檚 a pretty special thing when your best player acts like that because it sets the standard for the whole team around them.鈥
But that took time.
Wilkinson recalled the ill-fated 2011 World Cup in Germany where the Canadian women, under Italian coach Carolina Morace, finished last.
鈥淚t was almost a bit cliquey those years,鈥 Wilkinson recalled. 鈥淎nd we fell into that trap of there鈥檚 the new people and then there鈥檚 the older group. And I think we just started to taste a little bit of some notoriety and it really backfired on us.鈥
With Herdman as coach, the team began to understand everyone had to pull in the same direction.
鈥淧eople talk about how close Canada is as a team,鈥 Wilkinson said. 鈥淚 think that stems from this understanding that every single player, no matter how long they鈥檝e been on the team, has got to feel like they鈥檙e valued and that they鈥檙e important. And when your leader is setting that standard because she鈥檚 learned those lessons, no one has an excuse for acting differently. Sincy鈥檚 done that.
鈥淎nd you see it now. Jessie Fleming is the veteran at 25 with God knows how many caps (122). And she鈥檚 learned watching Sincy. And Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence and Kailen Sheridan, how can they possibly have an overblown ego when they share a field with Christine Sinclair and she doesn鈥檛. It鈥檚 pretty cool to have around.鈥
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Sinclair says simply that scoring goals 鈥渉as always come naturally.鈥
鈥淚 honestly have no idea why,鈥 she wrote in her autobiography 鈥淧laying the Long Game: A Memoir.鈥
But there is no secret to Sinclair鈥檚 success in front of goal. Hard work, a unique football brain and a competitive streak that runs a mile wide will go a long way.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard her say before, when people ask her 鈥極h how do you score so many goals?鈥 and she explains that she鈥檚 always had this really calm presence in front of goal and she doesn鈥檛 really know where it came from,鈥 said fellow forward Janine Beckie. 鈥淏ut when most people panic in the six (-yard box) and there鈥檚 total chaos, she says she feels like that鈥檚 her most calm moment on the field.
鈥淎nd as a forward I can definitely say that that鈥檚 not true for the majority of players. It鈥檚 usually the most chaotic moment right in front of goal. But she feels her most comfortable there and she will literally explain that she just puts it where the goalkeeper isn鈥檛.鈥
Heiner-Moller notes the speed of Sinclair鈥檚 finishing touch, which unbalances defenders and goalkeepers.
鈥淏eing smart, able to read the game but also having this great finishing touch, which she was rehearsing over and over 鈥 this is the hard work 鈥 then you鈥檝e got a lethal package,鈥 he said.
Bev Priestman, Canada鈥檚 current coach, said she learned early on that coaching Sinclair is 鈥渁 balance of trying to challenge someone but also not overcomplicating the game.鈥
鈥淚 learned very quickly that she just has an unbelievable football brain, that you can keep it simple,鈥 she added. 鈥淎nd in many ways that is what the team feels, it鈥檚 that simplicity and just the football nous that she has.鈥
Added fullback/midfielder Ashley Lawrence: 鈥淗er vision is impeccable 鈥 I think that鈥檚 something we don鈥檛 talk about enough.鈥
Goalkeeper Erin McLeod, who retired from international football in January and is also being honoured Tuesday, relished the challenge of facing Sinclair in practice or at club level.
鈥淚 loved going against Sincy because she could sense when the 鈥榢eepers are unbalanced, so you had to really stay true to your positioning and you couldn鈥檛 really guess because you鈥檇 get caught,鈥 said McLeod. 鈥淏ut then you鈥檇 kind of have to guess because her finishing was so good.鈥
There were some painful lessons along the way.
McLeod, then with the under-19 team, remembers playing against Sinclair and the full international squad in a scrimmage in advance of the 2002 FIFA U19 Women鈥檚 World Championship on home soil 鈥 a tournament that saw both players excel for Canada.
鈥淪incy chipped me from like halfway. and I鈥檒l never forget it. Even though I hadn鈥檛 met her, you had already heard about her 鈥 I think everyone knew she was already special. But that was a humbling introduction, I would say, to Sinclair.鈥
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While Sinclair is stepping away from the international game, her goal-scoring record remains.
And while records are made to be broken, many think it will take a while to surpass 鈥 if ever.
鈥淗onesty it鈥檚 going to be very hard to beat,鈥 said 28-year-old forward Nichelle Prince, whose two goals in Friday鈥檚 5-0 win over Australia in Langford, B.C., raised her total for Canada to 16 in 95 games. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping there is a young girl out there right now that is trying to beat it, but that鈥檚 a very difficult thing to accomplish. And so it just shows how amazing Sinc is.鈥
Added Beckie: 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a very long time 鈥 I鈥檓 sure it won鈥檛 happen for a very long time.鈥
Said Heiner-Moller: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see too many players being a part of the game for so many years that Sinc has 鈥 I can鈥檛 see the record being broke, perhaps forever.鈥
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While Sinclair has earned countless awards, from being named Canada鈥檚 Player of the Year 14 times to the Order of Canada, she has never won FIFA鈥檚 World Player of the Year award.
Pellerud still can鈥檛 believe it.
鈥淚n my opinion she should have had the award somewhere between five and 10 years,鈥 he said.
鈥淪he was nominated a couple of times but never got it,鈥 he added. 鈥淎nd every time I鈥檓 angry 鈥 It drove me crazy to see she didn鈥檛 win. But she has a lot of other official awards and she deserves them all.鈥
Herdman agrees.
鈥淚t was tough. It was really tough, as her coach not to see her recognized in the way she should have been,鈥 he said. 鈥淩eally difficult.鈥
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