Christine Sinclair has been named Canadian women’s soccer player of the year for the 10th straight year and 11th overall. The 30-year-old forward from Burnaby, B.C., marked her 200th appearance for Canada on Thursday, scoring her 147th career international goal in a 2-0 win over Scotland. “I have the best teammates in the world,” she tweeted after the game in Brazil. “Thanks for making 200 so special.”
Sinclair first won the Canadian award in 2000 and has made it her own since 2004. Six men have won the male half of the award since then. The award is voted on by Canadian media, coaches and clubs. Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson was named male player of the year on Thursday.
In 2013, Sinclair led the Portland Thorns to the NWSL championship with eight goals in 20 matches. It marked her third straight club title, having won in 2010 with FC Gold Pride and 2011 with the Western New York Flash. Sinclair made the 10-player shortlist for 2013 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year and was honoured on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Midfielder Diana Matheson was runner-up for the Canadian soccer award, followed by goalkeeper Erin McLeod and midfielder Desiree Scott. Dylan Carreiro and Kadeisha Buchanan were earlier named under-20 players of the year. Marco Carducci and Sura Yekka took under-17 honours while Liam Stanley was named Para Player of the Year.
The awards are sponsored by BMO.