Ian Walker
VANCOUVER - The last time Christine Sinclair carved her way through the opposition as a Vancouver Whitecap she scored the game-winning goal and assisted on another in a 3-0 victory over the Ottawa Fury in the W-League's championship. No one could match her raw power and on-field vision and she was an easy choice as the tournament's MVP.
It was Aug. 7, 2006. She's even better now. Better yet, she's back.
Sinclair, the face of women's soccer in this country, is set to rejoin her hometown Whitecaps on Saturday for one game in what is turning out to be a reoccurring theme this season for the women's team. Fellow national team member and former Whitecap Randee Hermus made a similar cameo appearance two weeks ago, heading in the winning goal in Vancouver's 2-1 home win over the Los Angeles Legends.
Sinclair will help fill the void created by the loss of a number of Whitecaps to the country's Under-20 side that is in preparation for U-20 Women's World Cup qualifying later this month. The Whitecaps could be missing as many as half of their regular starters, if not more, for the game and the next four beyond that.
"Christine is an icon in Canadian women's soccer and a huge part of our 2006 W-League championship and all these young players are excited that she could be involved," said Whitecaps head coach Bob Bararda, whose team will look to remain undefeated when they play host to the Seattle Sounders on Saturday at Swangard Stadium. "Christine herself, I said 'hey, look I'm thinking about this' and she just got a big huge smile on her face and said 'yeah, this will be great'. It's just a good fit for us and for the fans to see her play again."
© Vancouver Sun
