Sinclair not yet cleared for 30 June

Canadian captain Christine Sinclair has been fitted with a specialized protective mask, although it has not yet been established whether or not she will get to wear it for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup match on 30 June. National head coach Carolina Morace confirmed today that Sinclair has not yet received medical clearance from doctors to play in the all-important Canada-France match.



The protective mask, engineered by biomedical prosthetics specialist Christian Hartz, also requires approval from the FIFA referee before the Canada-France match.



Sinclair suffered a broken nose in the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 on Sunday 26 June. She was hit in the face on a flagrant elbow to the face by German left back Babett Peter. The German foul received no discipline from the referee.



Despite the pain, Sinclair convinced coach Morace to allow her to remain in the match. She played and scored a magnificent goal off a free kick in the 82nd minute. Sinclair’s goal cut the opponent’s lead in half, but it was not enough in a 1:2 loss to the two-time defending FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Germany.



After the match, Sinclair was rushed to the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin-Marzahn hospital with Canadian team doctor Pietro Braina. Sinclair was examined by Dr. Axel Ekkernkamp who confirmed and treated the fractured nose.



Canada traveled to Bochum on Monday and trained on Tuesday 27 June at the Hiltroper Straße. Sinclair tried on the mask and did some light activity, but did not train with the rest of the team.