Robert

Speaking of strikers, check this out: https://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/a1-stats-propel-team-usa-into-2019

Okay, here's some hope for all you "Seniors" out there. Brazil's Formiga holds the record for being the oldest woman to score a goal at a World Cup Final tournament. She was 37 years and 98 days old when she put one in the old onion bag against South Korea, in Montreal, on June 9, 2015. So if Christine wants to break that record, she will have to keep playing at least until the 2023 World Cup Final. And if she wants the all-time record for women or men, she'll have to keep going till at least the 2027 World Cup Final to break Roger Milla's record: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/stats-oldest-goal-scorers-world-cup-football Stats: List of oldest goal-scorers in World Cup Roger Milla Cameroon’s legendary striker Roger Milla leads the chart of oldest goal-scorers in World Cup. He scored a World Cup goal at the age of 43 years 49 days. A list of oldest goal-scorers in World Cup is given below. Milla appeared in 5 World Cups starting from 1978. 1994 World Cup was his last one, where he became the oldest player to play as well as score in a world cup. A list of oldest goal-scorers in World Cups is given below.

On the topic of retirement, if the Canadian women's roster includes the same players that got minutes against the U.S.A., last October 17th, the team average will be 26.5 years by the time we face the Netherlands on June 20th. An experienced squad for women's standards today. This will more than likely be final World Cup for the five senior players on the team. 36 - Sinclair 35 - Matheson 32 - Labbe 30 - Chapman 30 - Schmidt 26 - Zadorsky 26 - Leon 24 - Beckie 24 - Lawrence 24 - Prince 23 - Buchanan 23 - Quinn 21 - Fleming 18 - Huitema

Talk about inflation, eh? Back in 1990, the price I paid for a World Cup semi-final ticket to see the Argentina (Diego Maradona) versus Italy (Roberto Baggio) match in Naples was only $50 Canadian. Kinda makes you wonder what a World Cup ticket 25 years from now will cost. I guess at the same rate of inflation (10 times) it will cost around $5,000. Holy shit! If that's the case, my next book better be a best-seller.?

The math is, what the math is. I didn't make-up those attendance figures, and you are free to interpret those numbers any way you choose. I see the number of bums in seats directly correlating to what is being displayed on the field. Personally, every ticket that I have ever purchased to see Canadian Women's National Team play (and that includes a $500 ticket to the 2015 World Cup Final to see the U.S.A. and Japan) was only because I wanted to see Christine Sinclair play. Jessie Fleming, Kadeisha Buchanan, and Ashley Lawrence are just like any other player who dons the Maple Leaf, and until they prove themselves at a Women's World Cup Final tournament, I will not be investing my time and money. It's not just about Jessie Fleming, Kadeisha Buchanan, and Ashley Lawrence! It's about their daughters and granddaughters too!!! For now, I'm just looking forward to attending a great match in Reims, on June 20, 2019.

Please feel free to spit it out.

Given that the Canadian National Women's Team has only played 4 of its last 22 home internationals at BC Place, I would say that drawing over 50,000 spectators in 50% of those matches could be considered as being fairly regular. In fact, the total attendance at those 4 BC Place matches equals 158,407 paying customers, for an average of just under 40,000 per game. The total attendance for the 9 internationals that the Canadian National Women's Team played immediately prior to Christine's debut totaled 33,058 spectators, for an average of 3,673 spectators per game. That's 40,000 spectators per match with Sinclair and 3,673 spectators per match without Sinclair. Talk about star drawing power. That must be right up there with Tiger Woods. No wonder that organizers of tour events want Tiger playing in their tournaments, even if he is playing poorly. At an average cost of $35 per ticket, the CSA is cashing in $1,271,445 more per game just off of tickets sales alone when Christine is in the line-up. Just imagine what the attendance figures will be like for the Canadian Women's National Team at home match in the future if they lack the proper preparation for a successful 2019 World Cup campaign and perform poorly in France, AND Christine retires? The CSA won't have to think about renting BC Place any more if that happens. The time to think about the future of Canadian women's soccer is right NOW!!!

It's always a good thing to have people in your corner who believe in you. Especially when its the media.

Canada has played eight friendlies in Canada since the 2015 World Cup, and only two of those have been in Vanacouver. The six games played in Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa were all in stadiums that had capacities of less than 50,000. The two matches in Vancouver attracted crowds of 22,508 and 28,017, which is very respectable considering they were a pair of friendlies that were played in November and February: 1) 2018-09-02 Ottawa, ON CANADA - BRAZIL - 16,128 2) 2018-06-10 Hamilton, ON CANADA - GERMANY - 22,826 3) 2017-11-09 Vancouver, BC CANADA - U.S.A. - 28,017 4) 2017-06-11 Toronto, ON CANADA - COSTA RICA - 20,628 5) 2017-06-08 Winnipeg, MB CANADA - COSTA RICA - 14,434 6) 2017-02-04 Vancouver, BC CANADA - MEXICO - 22,508 7) 2016-06-07 Ottawa, ON CANADA - BRAZIL - 23,588 8) 2016-06-04 Toronto, ON CANADA - BRAZIL - 28,604

I was one of the 54,0270 in attendance, sitting in the upper bowl, at Canada's match against England, in Vancouver: 1) 2015-06-27 Vancouver, BC CANADA - ENGLAND - 54,027 2) 2015-06-21 Vancouver, BC CANADA - SWITZERLAND - 53,855 3) 2015-06-15 Montreal, QC CANADA - NETHERLANDS - 45,420 4) 2015-06-11 Edmonton, AB CANADA - NEW ZEALAND - 35,544 5) 2015-06-06 Edmonton, AB CANADA - CHINA - 53,058

Never mind coming up with a top 100 list, cause honestly, I can't even name 100 women soccer players. However, I do agree with you on the odds part. Like what was the longest shot to ever win the FIFA Women's or Men's World Cup? Japan in 2011? Germany in 1954? The odds-makers almost almost have the winner in their top four or five picks. WOMEN 3 United States (1991, 1999, 2015) 2 Germany (2003, 2007) 1 Norway (1995) 1 Japan (2011) MEN 5 Brazil 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002 4 Italy 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006 4 Germany 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014 2 Uruguay 1930, 1950 2 Argentina 1978, 1986 2 France 1998, 2018 1 England 1966 1 Spain 2010

Christine Sinclair is on the verge of becoming the all-time leading international goal scorer. The Canadian Women's National Team has never won a World Cup Final match without her in the line-up. In the last nine home internationals before her Women's World Cup Final debut the Canadian women drew the following attendances: 1) 2002-11-03 Victoria, BC CANADA - COSTA RICA - 3,256 2) 2002-11-01 Victoria, BC CANADA - JAMAICA - 1,834 3) 2002-10-30 Victoria, BC CANADA - HAITI - 1,531 4) 2002-09-28 Victoria, BC CANADA - AUSTRALIA - 2,656 5) 2002-09-26 Burnaby, BC CANADA - AUSTRALIA - 2,653 6) 2002-07-17 Etobicoke, ON CANADA - NORWAY - 4,000 7) 2001-06-30 Toronto, ON CANADA - U.S.A. - 9,023 8) 1999-06-12 Toronto, ON - CANADA - AUSTRALIA - 4,639 9) 1999-06-09 Etobicoke, ON - CANADA - AUSTRALIA - 3,486 Well, how times have changed, EH? The Canadian Women's National Team since the arrival of Christine Sinclair regularly draws crowds of 50,000 at BC Place, Vancouver, BC, which has done wonders for the CSA's annual bottom line, EH? Now considering that this will more than likely be Christine's World Cup Final swan-song, wouldn't it be appropriate if the CSA showed its appreciation for everything that Canada's all-time greatest soccer star (women or men) has done for the beautiful game in this country, by arranging a number of home internationals in the 6 months leading up to France 2019, to give SINC the best possible chance of retiring as a WORLD CHAMPION, EH?

Canada's record at FIFA World Cup Finals without Christine Sinclair in the line-up: 6 matches played 0 matches won 2 matches drawn 4 matches lost 8 goals scored 25 goals conceded Canada's record at FIFA World Cup Finals with Christine Sinclair in the line-up: 17 matches played 6 matches won 3 matches drawn 8 matches lost 22 goals scored 24 goals conceded

By comparison, if we take a trip down memory-lane to see how the Canadian Women's National Team fared at the FIFA World Cup Finals prior to the Christine Sinclair era, the results were as follows: Canada failed to qualify for the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup that was hosted by China in 1991. 06-06-1995 Canada - England 2-3 08-06-1995 Canada - Nigeria 3-3 10-06-1995 Canada - Norway 0-7 19-06-1999 Canada - Japan 1-1 23-06-1999 Canada - Norway 1-7 26-06-1999 Canada - Russia 1-4

Of course, it was the year preceding Christine's debut at the Women's World Cup Finals that she really exploded onto the international stage during the 2002 U-19 World Cup: 18-08-2002 Canada - Denmark 3-2 (1 goal) 20-08-2002 Canada - Japan 4-0 (2 goals) 22-08-2002 Canada - Nigeria 2-0 (2 goals) 25-08-2002 Canada - England 6-2 (5 goals) 29-08-2002 Canada - Brazil 1-1 (4-3 pen.) 01-09-2002 Canada - U.S.A. 0-1 (a.e.t.)