Sinclair, Canadian women's soccer team to play February friendly vs Mexico at BC Place

Oct 15 2016, 12:33 am

When Canada Soccer sent out a media release stating that Christine Sinclair would be on hand for an important announcement, speculation began: is she going to announce her retirement?

So I’ve been reading online that this is my retirement announcement,” Sinclair joked at the press conference in Vancouver on Friday. “John’s not getting rid of me yet.”

No, John Herdman is not getting rid of Sinclair, nor is she retiring.

Thank goodness.

You’ll be able to see Sinclair and the rest of her Olympic bronze medal teammates play a friendly against Mexico on February 4th next year at BC Place, Canada Soccer has announced. Tickets for the game will go on sale on Thursday, November 3 at 10 am.

The face of women’s soccer in Canada is now 33 years-old, but she’s also still a star. When I asked her back in July if Rio would be her last Olympics, she looked at me like I was crazy.

On Friday, she stated her intention to play in 2020.

“I told John (Herdman), I’ve got four more years left in me,” she said. “If he keeps picking me, I’ll keep playing.”

I guess she’ll keep playing.

Also revealed at the media conference: Canada won’t be satisfied with bronze next time.

The goal in Rio was reaching the podium. They accomplished that for a second straight Olympic Games, something that is a major accomplishment for this country.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to really smile now until we hit gold,” Herdman said of his team, now ranked fourth in the world.

“This bronze felt a little bit different to the first one… The Germany game hurt in a different way.”

The women’s national team felt like they were beaten by the refs four years ago against USA. Against Germany in the Olympic semi-finals, they lost 2-0 to a team they knew they could beat.

Sinclair said it best: “We want our full national team to be the best in the world.”

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