(Melbourne) Captain Christine Sinclair didn’t want to point the finger at Canada Soccer immediately after the Canadians were eliminated at the Women’s World Cup.
But the all-time leading scorer in women’s soccer issued a warning after the reigning Olympic champions lost 4-0 to Australia on Monday.
“Look, we’re in conflict with our federation over their endorsement, but we can’t blame [Canada Soccer]. There were 23 players here tonight and all the staff and we didn’t deliver the goods, she said. I think it’s more of a warning for our federation — the lack of a professional league, the lack of support for national teams in the lower age categories.
The Canadian men’s and women’s teams are in a dispute with Canada Soccer over a collective agreement. The women’s team wishes to obtain the same support and the same salary compensation as the men’s team. The women’s team announced during the tournament that a tentative agreement has been reached regarding compensation during the World Cup and for the year 2023. However, “several important issues” remain unresolved.
The men claim not to have received compensation for the World Cup last year in Qatar.
Sinclair collected a few blades of grass from the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium before heading to the locker room – a little memory of his sixth World Cup.
Sinclair was calm after the loss, but emotions surfaced when she spoke about her teammates and her friend Sophie Schmidt, who had previously announced that this was her last international tournament. Sinclair said she hoped to convince Schmidt, 35, to also participate in the Olympic qualifying series between Canada and Jamaica in September.
Sinclair appeared in all three of Canada’s games, boosting her cap tally to 326. She missed a penalty in the opener against Nigeria, which ultimately prevented her from becoming the first player, male or female, to score in of six different World Cups.
Canadian coach Bev Priestman also said she doesn’t know what the future holds for Sinclair.
“I think she’s going to take it one game at a time,” Priestman added. Of course, I would like these players [Sinclair and Schmidt] to participate in the Olympic qualifiers. I think they deserve to send Canada to the Olympics in a game in front of their fans. That’s what will motivate them. My conversations with veteran players were about the importance of this series in September.
Sinclair pointed out that the tournament has already demonstrated that “countries have come to play”, noting that 25th-ranked FIFA-ranked Colombia upset No. 2 Germany 2-1 on Sunday.
“It happens,” she said. This is what makes sport special. The leading teams are being caught up. »
