EDINBURG, TEXAS – All hail Canada’s Christine Sinclair, the Queen of all international goal scorers. The iconic Canadian captain etched her name into the history books on Wednesday night when she scored twice in an 11-0 win over Saint Kitts and Nevis in Canada’s opening game of the Concacaf Olympic qualifying tournament. With her brace, Sinclair, a 36-year-old native of Burnaby, B.C. now has 185 goals for the Canadian women’s team, allowing her to move past retired American star Abby Wambach as the all-time leading goal scorer in international soccer, for both men and women. Sinclair took 290 games to break Wambach’s record in an incredible international career that began when she debuted for Canada as a 16-year old on March 12, 2000 in a game against China. Wambach scored 184 goals in 256 appearances for the U.S. from 2001 to 2015. Ali Daei is the top international scorer on the men’s side, having scored 109 goals in 149 appearances for Iran from 1993 to 2006. Sinclair scored No. 184 from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of Wednesday’s game after being bundled over inside the 18-yard box. She added a second goal in the 23rd minute to erase Wambach’s name from the record books. RELATED READING: Sinclair nets 185th goal to break international record || Watch: Sinclair’s record-breaking moment The Canadian captain’s goal celebration after setting the mark was muted, to say the least. While mobbed by her teammates, Sinclair raised her hand and flashed a broad smile to acknowledge the sparse crowd – the 9,375-seat H-E-B Park Stadium was virtually empty – before the Canadian team quickly headed back to the centre circle to resume play. “Congratulations to Christine for this incredible achievement. It is an amazing feat and she deserves all the credit and accolades she will rightly receive,” Concacaf president Victor Montagliani said in a statement after Sinclair broke the record. Canada Soccer president Steven Reed added: “Canada’s Christine Sinclair is the greatest international goal scorer in the world’s most beloved sport. We have watched her grow from teenage star on the local grounds to international superstar who is adored around the world. “For more than 20 years, she has served as a global ambassador to our nation, continually raising the bar for our sport through her achievements on the pitch and her humble actions off the pitch.” Wambach immediately took to social media to congratulate Sinclair after she broke the record, posting on her Twitter account, “Christine: History is made. Your victory is our victory. We celebrate with you.” RELATED READING: Soccer Twitter reacts to Christine Sinclair’s record-breaking night Eighth in the current FIFA world rankings, Canada currently tops Group B at this Concacaf competition with these three points. Mexico plays Jamaica in Group B action later on Wednesday. Saint Kitts and Nevis, ranked 127th in the world and making its debut in this tournament, sits in last place in the group. Games come fast and furious in this competition – Canada will play five times in a 12-day span if it goes all the way to the finals. It was not a surprise, then, that Canadian coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller rotated his squad and rested regular starters such as goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe, defender Allysha Chapman, midfielder Desiree Scott and forward Janine Beckie. At the same time, Heiner-Møller injected some youth into his starting 11 with the introductions of defender Jayde Riviere and midfielder Julia Grosso (both 19 years old), midfielder Gabby Carle (21) and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan (24). The enormous gap in class between the two teams was clear to see from the opening minutes, and it was evidenced by the 7-0 lead Canada took into the halftime break. The goal-scoring spree began early on when Sinclair converted from the 12-yard spot, firing her penalty attempt past a helpless Kyra Dickinson in the Saint Kitts net. After Adriana Leon and Ashley Lawrence scored to make it 3-0 after 16 minutes, Sinclair scored her record-breaking goal midway through the first half, tapping home from inside the six-yard box off a pass from Leon. Moments later, Leon bagged her second of the match to make it 5-0. Riviere found the back of the net in the 40th minute with a rocket of a shot from distance, and Leon completed her hat-trick in the 43rd minute. Perhaps in a show of mercy towards Saint Kitts, Heiner-Møller subbed Sinclair out of the game in the 47th minute and replaced her with 18-year-old forward Jordyn Huitema. The goals continued to pour in for Canada, as Jessie Fleming controlled a ball from Shelina Zadorsky played over the Saint Kitts’ defence before slotting it home in the 54th minute. Three minutes later, Riviere fed a ball into the centre of the box that Lawrence fired home to make it 9-0 for the Reds. Huitema got in on the fun when he scored a header off a corner kick in the 74th minute. Leon scored her fourth of the game in the 80th minute, slipping between a trio of defenders on the edge of the box before firing past the Saint Kitts goalkeeper. Canada’s next game is against Jamaica (No. 51 in the world) on Saturday, before it closes out group play next Tuesday vs. Mexico (No. 26). NOTES: Group A consists of two-time reigning World Cup champions United States (ranked No. 1 in the world), Costa Rica (37), Panama (53) and Haiti (68). Costa Rica and the U.S. currently lead Group A with three points each… The top two nations from each group advance to the semifinals of this Concacaf tournament. Only the two finalists qualify for this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo… The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Feb. 7 to 9 in Carson, California.

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