In the coming weeks we will see Christine Sinclair walk off the football field for the last time.

We just don’t know exactly when it will happen.

On Friday, nearly a year after Sinclair retired from international play, the Portland Thorns will honor the star forward in the team’s regular-season finale.

There’s also a chance Friday could mark Sinclair’s last ever football game.

Last month, she announced she would retire from professional football at the end of the current National Women’s Soccer League season. The Thorns sit seventh in the standings heading into the final week of the regular season, level with Bay FC on 31 points and three points ahead of ninth-place Racing Louisville. The eight best teams in the league qualify for the play-offs.

While nothing is guaranteed, Portland is in the driver’s seat heading into this weekend; A single point would secure the club a 10th all-time playoff berth and an NWSL record. If results from Bay FC or Racing’s last matches favor the Thorns, even a defeat could see them move on.

All of this adds an anti-climactic tone when it comes to saying a final farewell to Sinclair.

Will he come on Friday? Perhaps a brutal double whammy for Thorns fans with play-off elimination. Or it could be next week when the playoffs start. Or the week after that. Or if the Thorns do make it to the NWSL Championship, it might not happen until the end of next month.

And there’s a sense of deja vu because, yes, this is technically Sinclair’s second retirement.

Last December, Sinclair played for Canada for the last time in an international friendly against Australia. In front of approximately 50,000 fans at Vancouver’s BC Place (renamed Christine Sinclair Place for the occasion), the Burnaby, B.C. native walked off the field one last time for the Canadian national team, withdrawing from the game in place of her longtime teammate Sophie. Schmidt in the 57th minute.

In many ways, it’s unusual for Sinclair, who has always been a humble picture, to retire twice, especially compared to some other high-profile players whose retirement tours ended like Groundhog Day. American forward Carli Lloyd announced her retirement in August 2021, and for the next three months, all matches of both Gotham FC and the US national team fall under the umbrella of the “Carli Lloyd Farewell Tour”.

Sinclair would have been happy to disappear from the public eye, walking off the field without any announcement or recognition.

But perhaps, despite his sadness, he will have one last moment in the spotlight.

While Sinclair’s farewell to professional soccer lacks the certainty of an international sendoff (except for playing in Portland’s NWSL Championship game), let’s focus on what we know.

First, let’s look at Sinclair’s CV over her 25-year career: 190 international goals, the most of all time scored by a player, male or female; three Olympic medals, including gold from the Tokyo Games; made six World Cup appearances; Second place and Golden Shoe award at the 2002 U-19 Women’s World Championship.

Sinclair also has two NCAA championships and two MAC Hermann Awards as the top collegiate player in women’s soccer, two WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer) championships, three NWSL Championships and 65 NWSL regular season goals, third most all-time.

He deserves a double retirement just for the accolades alone.

Secondly, he is as well-liked in Portland as Canadians value Sinclair. She has been Thorn since the opening of the NWSL season in 2013, and her origin story has become well-known in women’s soccer circles.

Shortly after the 2012 Olympics, when Sinclair was about to hop on a plane to sign with European giant Paris Saint-Germain, she heard rumblings of not only a new professional women’s league in the United States (following the closure of the WPS following the Olympics in 2011). season), but a team in Portland.

For him the choice was simple. The chance to play in Portland was too good to pass up.

Their ties with the city are very deep. He had two uncles who played for the Portland Timbers. He played four seasons at the University of Portland and won two national championships, scoring 110 goals in 94 games.

Before the NWSL’s first season, she and other players were asked to submit a list of their top three choices for an NWSL club. Once again, Sinclair’s choice was simple. He presented his list of three clubs: Portland. in Portland. in Portland.

Although Sinclair has played all over the world, his hometown of Burnaby will always be the place closest to his heart. And right next door is Portland.

He spoke at length about his love for his home away from home. He repeats the joke from the TV show Portlandia about Portland being where young people go to retire. But it’s easy to see why Sinclair fell in love with Portland, with its laid-back vibe reminiscent of Vancouver.

Sinclair still vividly remembers attending his first home game at Providence Park, with the Rose City Riveters, the fan base, filling the stands during the team’s warm-ups. Portland averaged more than 13,000 fans in attendance for the NWSL’s inaugural season; this was almost three times more than the next closest team.

“I knew what was possible in this city and I knew how much the fans loved football,” Sinclair said.

While Friday isn’t the definitive finale for Sinclair, it’s an opportunity for Portland fans to honor everything Sinclair has given to the city over more than a decade. Regardless of the outcome of the game, Friday will be the last time Sinclair takes the field at Providence Park and his last opportunity to receive a congratulatory rose from the fan base.

The past year has been a bit different in terms of Sinclair’s impact on both club and country. Canada has a new captain named Jessie Fleming. At last summer’s Paris Olympics, the national team played its first major tournament without Sinclair since 1999.

Even in Portland, Sinclair is no longer the main focus. American forward Sophia Smith leads the team with 11 goals and 6 assists. Becky Sauerbrunn wore the captain’s headband for most of the season (although Sinclair still captained her team, especially in the final matches).

In some ways it must have felt like a dream season for Sinclair. He has tried to avoid the spotlight forever. It’s not easy to do that when you’re the world’s top scorer.

At 41, perhaps for the first time in his career, he was able to go about his business quietly. Even though his time on the field has decreased, he still provides good moments.

Earlier this month, in his penultimate game at Providence Park, he helped Portland to a 2-0 victory over the then-undefeated Orlando Pride, keeping the Thorns in the playoff race with a beautiful strike from the top of the penalty area.

Four days after that goal, Sinclair reached a final in Vancouver and the Thorns traveled to BC Place to face the Whitecaps Girls Elite team in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.

There is no doubt that Canadian football fans – not to mention Sinclair himself – believed that the Canada game on December 5 was the last time Sinclair would field his team at BC Place. But as a surprise bonus, he got another opportunity with his beloved Thorns and led his side to victory, including scoring a late goal on Canadian soil.

His career is full of these moments for both Canada and Portland. And they are always backed by an unwavering humility and an unquestionable commitment to never accept anything less than one’s best; not because he craves the spotlight, but because his drive to see his team succeed is unmatched.

So yes, Canadian fans, Portland fans and football fans in general, prepare to say goodbye to a legend; Even if we don’t know exactly when your career swan song will happen, and even if you said goodbye last year.

Because that’s what he deserves.