It hasn't been the best week for the Canadian women's national team. They lost 1-0 to Germany in a game they were badly out played, dropped a spot in the FIFA rankings and, on an individual level, watched Abby Wambach win the "race" to break the all-time women's scoring record.
More concerning was the lack of any breakout performance by the younger players -- save Kadeisha Buchanan --against Germany. Sure, some didn't fall on their face, but we need players that are doing more than just surviving.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The bronze buzz may have worn off. Will Edmonton be able to match the excitement we saw in Toronto and draw more than 20,000? Not sure how, with the team close to invisible and the Oilers taking most of the attention by the time the game rolls around
That invisibility makes the peripheral things talked about off the top more important. Not a lot of media talked about the Germany game ( especially before the game) but many will pick up that they slipped a spot in the ranking. And they'll do so completely out of context.
With Sinclair it's more of an opportunity lost. Wambach isn't being talked about in Canada today, but if the roles had been reversed Sinclair would have lead off the sportscasts today
Beyond the trivial, the way Wambach pulled away from Sinclair ( it was tied a year ago, it's 160-145 now) illustrates a major issue with Canada right now-- no one else can score for the team and because of that Sinclair can't find space.
Which brings us back to the lack of a breakout player.
Less than 2-years until the 2015 World Cup kicks off...