Remembering Christine Sinclair's first goal on home soil

You never forget your first.

For Christine Sinclair, there’s plenty of highlights during her 23-year playing career with the Canadian national women’s soccer team.

Sinclair, 40, will play her final match for Canada on Tuesday in Vancouver in an international friendly against Australia, capping a brilliant international career that saw her win three Olympic medals (including a gold) and compete in six FIFA World Cups.

The iconic Canadian captain will retire from the national team as the all-time top scorer in the history of international soccer, for both men and women, with 190 goals in 330 games. 

Sinclair has scored plenty of memorable goals for her country, including many that came in important games. But somewhat forgotten about is the very first one she scored on home soil in a 2-2 draw against the United States on June 30, 2001 in Toronto.

A native of Burnaby, B.C., Sinclair made her debut for Canada as a 16-year-old at the Algarve Cup on March 12, 2000 and scored her first international goal two days later. Back in those days Canada didn’t play many home games, as the women’s team travelled the world and took on opponents such as Portugal, the U.S., Australia, Morocco, Sweden, Germany and Norway. 

By the time Sinclair finally had a chance to make her home debut, she’d already appeared in 28 games for the national team, scoring 20 goals along the way. It was a remarkable scoring streak for the then-teenaged Sinclair, but one that didn’t surprise Amy Walsh, who had 102 caps for Canada in a career that spanned from 1997 to 2009 before eventually being inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame. 

Walsh was a teammate of Sinclair’s early on in the Canadian forward’s international career, and remembered her as someone who played with a maturity level for someone so inexperienced and hadn’t even turned professional at the time. 

“She had a confidence and composure that belied her years. It was remarkable, really. Here was this quiet, unassuming kid who glided about the pitch, making everything look so easy,” Walsh told Sportsnet.

The game against the U.S. at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium drew a sellout of 9,023 fans, which at the time was the largest crowd to ever watch a Canadian women's home game.

On a hot and humid night in downtown Toronto, it was the Canadians who opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Kristina Kiss’ free kick into the penalty area found Andrea Neil, whose header produced a great reaction save from U.S. goalkeeper Jaime Pagliarulo. But the rebound fell kindly to Charmaine Hooper, who slammed the ball into the open net from two yards out.

The Americans equalized later in the first half and then took the lead in the 57th minute when substitute Tiffeny Milbrett drilled a shot from 25 yards.

Canada immediately picked itself up, dusted itself off and tied the game a minute later off a fabulous goal by Sinclair. Canadian defender Isabelle Morneau did well to intercept a pass and then fed teammate Silvana Burtini. The veteran forward took a few quick touches inside her half while under pressure from an American player before playing a sublime ball that released Sinclair down the left side.

Sinclair put her head down and played a low ball into the box just as she got to the end line. The Canadian forward’s cross was only partly dealt with by U.S. defender Catherine Reddick as the ball hung in the air before coming straight down. Pagliarulo couldn't fight through the traffic inside her six-yard box, and barely got a fist on the ball in an effort to punch it away.  

Sinclair was in the right place at the right time, pouncing on Pagliarulo’s botched clearing attempt and sweetly struck a half volley from eight yards out that arrowed into the top right corner of the net past a helpless Pagliarulo.

The Canadian teenager was immediately mobbed by several of her teammates and celebrated on the pitch while the crowd inside Varsity Stadium erupted in unison. 

“What an amazing strike by the young player, Christine Sinclair. Perfectly, perfectly placed. That is exactly what Canada needed… Sinclair, not even taking a touch, first time [and into] the back of the net,” enthused former Canadian international Helen Stoumbos on Sportnet’s live broadcast of the match. 

Former Canadian coach Even Pellerud was also impressed with the quality of Sinclair’s strike.

Walsh suffered an ankle injury that forced her to be subbed out in the 12th minute and she was later taken to a local hospital. So, she never saw Sinclair’s historic first goal on home soil.

But the former midfielder was on the pitch with Sinclair for many of her goals early on with the national team and marvelled at the overall quality of the upstart teenager who’d go on to become Canada’s captain and achieve international fame.

“I don’t know if any of us thought at the time Christine was destined for greatness, but she immediately stepped in and was by far and away the most talented player [on the team] It wasn’t even close. What impressed me the most was the casual brilliance of her touches or finishes in training that she made somehow appear pedestrian. You’d just shake your head at her capacity to replicate that quality over and over again,” Walsh said.

Unlike Walsh, former Canadian coach Even Pellerud had no doubts about Sinclair’s future when speaking to this reporter after the U.S. game.

“Just watch her. She’s going to become one of the greats,” Pellerud said.