Sinclair scores 100th goal, breaks record for matches

Christine Sinclair reached a pair of milestones on Saturday 20 February as Canada’s women’s national team won 3:0 over Poland in the team’s first match of the 2010 season. Sinclair made her 133rd appearance to pass Andrea Neil for the all-time national record. Sinclair also scored her 100th goal, making her just the 10th international player to reach the century mark.



For more information on this match, please visit the following fixture link.



“The career appearances record is a testament to the women’s program in Canada. The number of matches the team has been able to play over the past few years has provided me with the opportunity to reach 133,” said Christine Sinclair. “As for the 100 goals, it is all about my teammates. I have been very fortunate to play with some excellent players who have provided me the opportunity to score goals.”



Sinclair tied the national record for appearances late last season, although she already owned the record for career starts and career minutes played. She now stands alone ahead of Neil.



Neil had established her record less than three years ago on 30 August 2007 in Tokyo, Japan. It was Neil’s 131st of 132 career appearances, passing the previous mark of 130 held by Charmaine Hooper. In that match against Japan, Neil wore the team captain’s armband in place of the regular captain, Sinclair. Neil retired at the end of 2007, but returned to the national program in 2009 as an assistant coach under Carolina Morace.



“I think it is huge for Christine that both milestones came in one game,” said Neil. “I can’t think of a better person to be first in both categories.”



As for Sinclair, she made her debut on 12 March 2000 in an 0:4 loss to PR China at the Algarve Cup. Just two days later, she scored her first goal against Norway. In 10 seasons with the national team, she has led Canada in goal scoring nine times, including a national record 16 goals during the 2007 season.



Sinclair follows USA’s Mia Hamm (158), USA’s Kristine Lilly (129), Germany’s Birgit Prinz (125), Scotland’s Julie Fleeting (107), Italy’s Elisabetta Vignotta (107), USA’s Michelle Akers (105), Italy’s Carolina Morace (105), USA’s Abby Wambach (101), and USA’s Tiffeny Millbret (100). Wambach was the most recent player to reach the century mark, doing so last year against Canada on 19 July 2009.



Like Sinclair, Prinz, Fleeting, Wambach and Millbret are still active. Also of note, Sinclair trails Canadian coach Morace by just five goals on the world football list.



“We have been looking forward to this moment for some time,” said Morace. “We had been very careful not to speak to her about it before the game. We are very excited and proud of her accomplishment.”



Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and whose presenting sponsor is Teck, is preparing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Canada’s qualification tournament – the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup – will take place later this year. Canada opened the season today with a 3:0 win over Poland and will continue next week with four games at the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup.



All-time leaders : appearances

All-time leaders : goals





For more information on Cyprus, please visit www.visitcyprus.com.