Christine Sinclair’s professional career ends with NWSL playoff elimination

Christine Sinclair’s professional football career ended in defeat, but will always be remembered as a roaring success.

The Portland Thorns were pipped to a semi-final spot in the NWSL playoffs, losing 2-1 to defending champions NJ/NY Gotham.

In September, 41-year-old Sinclair announced that this would be her final season in club football, one year after she retired from the Canadian national team.

She bows out as the all-time leading international goal scorer in the sport, male or female.

190 strikes in 331 appearances for her homeland, she leads the way ahead of Abby Wambach (184) and Mia Hamm (158).

Cristiano Ronaldo (133) and Lionel Messi (112) lead the way for the men’s side of the game but are way off the striker's impressive feat.

Sinclair was at the heart of the Canadian side that stormed to gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, marking their first major title.

For the Thorns, however, accolades have been a constant. A three-time Championship winner and two-time Shield winner, alongside trophies in the Challenge Cup and Community Shield, she has won it all in the last decade with them.

This chapter of her unparalleled career is over, but the prolific forward has every intention of staying and continuing to grow the game.

“Soccer has been my passion since I was 4 years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined,” she wrote on Instagram when announcing her retirement.

“I still have the same passion as that young 4-year-old growing up in Burnaby, but as I hang up my playing boots, I vow to channel it in a new way – to continue growing the game I love, while inspiring the next generation.”

Click here to read article