Post-Sinclair era begins in earnest as Canada's women's soccer team prepares for Gold Cup

As Canada prepares to defend its Olympic gold medal at this summer's Olympics in Paris, there will be a few tests and preparatory matches along the way.

Key is the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup that began last Saturday with preliminary matches and runs to March 10. Canada plays its first game Thursday against El Salvador. This women's tournament is in its inaugural year and will comprise eight nations from the confederation, plus four teams from the South American confederation (CONMEBOL).

We have seen stars rise and fall in the last few years in women's soccer. Less storied nations are emerging with dynamic teams and powerful players. The W Gold Cup (available to watch in Canada on OneSoccer) is an important tournament for the national team. As Canada develops and grows within the global soccer ecosystem, it should experience as much international competition as possible. 

With the formal retirement of program stalwart and legend Christine Sinclair, and the extension of head coach Bev Priestman's contract with Canada Soccer, the women's team seems to have turned a page.

Sandra Herrera is a CBS Sports soccer writer and co-host of the Attacking Third podcast. I asked her why this tournament is important for Canada and for women's soccer.

"Many countries in the region have been afterthoughts outside of mainstream coverage," she told me over text. "The last decade of tournaments were dominated by the machine that is the [U.S. women's team] and the recent Olympic success of Canada. Six historic CONCACAF nations were represented at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and captured the attention of global fans. A marquee tournament for the region, with invited guests from CONMEBOL, will ensure growth of our footballing continents as the game continues to evolve."

The next steps for Canada are to face national teams from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL with different types of strategies, strengths and stars. Canada is No. 10 in the world according to FIFA rankings and is in Group C alongside El Salvador (104), Costa Rica (43) and Paraguay (50). Canada should exit the group stages fairly easily and move on to face tougher competitors but as we know, nothing is what it seems at international tournaments. 

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Canada's first match against El Salvador is in Houston at Shell Energy Stadium — all of Canada's group stage matches will be there. Other groups will will play out of Los Angeles, San Diego and Carson, Calif. In these types of tournaments, the U.S. either dominates or wins. But their performance at last year's Women's World Cup was lacklustre (losing to Sweden in the round of 16) and they are looking to win again. But with star striker Mia Fishel out with an ACL injury, it will not be easy. 

Canada also had to restructure its roster, adding Marie-Yasmine (Mimi) Alidou and Bianca St-Georges after Jayde Riviere and Sydney Collins suffered injuries. Collins fractured her ankle this week, which is unfortunate because her previous performances have been impactful.

Collins is a dual national (she was born in the U.S. and her mother is Canadian) and after playing with the U.S. U17 and U23 teams, played her first cap with Canada's senior team in September. St-Georges will get a chance to prove she can shine. Likewise, Alidou, who has been a prolific scorer at Benfica, her club in Portugal, will have the opportunity to craft her part of this tale. 

No doubt that last-minute adjustments are a challenge for Priestman, but these and other bumps are part of the job and what she is prepared for. Priestman has said she has "unfinished business" with the team, but feels confident that distractions have been diminished and she has been able to focus on commanding the ship. Those distractions include Canada Soccer having no general-secretary, no permanent men's head coach and on-going labour issues with its players. But Priestman is looking forward to the tournament.  

Like the U.S., Canada has moved past the disastrous result of the Women's World Cup (failing to advance out of the group stage) and we saw a new energy strike through them when they easily beat Jamaica at Olympic qualifiers in September, and then Australia for Sinclair's farewell matches in December.

Granted, those two opponents were a shell of themselves from what I remember from the summer. But it could also mean that the electricity bolting through Canada is a sign of growth and momentum. Canada had three home games in four months and enjoyed the opportunity to see and hear crowds cheer them on. With the growth of soccer at home and players signed to the top clubs in the world, Canadians are making huge strides in almost every competitive women's league. 

Canada should take one match at a time and focus their energy on goal scoring, sharpening attacks and of course, playing with lineups. There is some room for Priestman to experiment in some of the matches against less established squads.

Having a roster that clicks and is in sync is necessary. This is a team that has strong culture and connection, and has stuck together from the top of the podium to the depths of tough losses. The ability to visualize, compartmentalize and strike will be a strength for this team in the mental game. Rolling out the plans while maintaining creativity on the pitch is an asset, while rising to meet the challenges is a necessity.

Right now, the Canadian team has a roster full of players who are capable and qualified. There are some players fighting for a position on the team and a seat on the plane to Paris. Those players will use the Gold Cup and bring out all of their arsenal — yes, that was a Cloé Lacasse pun. 

Matches in September and December showed the country that recovery and mental acuity are not only possible but necessary to move forward. In soccer strategy, sometimes the ball goes backward in order to move it forward in an attack.

Maybe that's part of Canada's story — tasting the sweetness of victory is more profound when one has experienced loss.