In the coming weeks we will see Christine Sinclair walk off the football field for the last time.

We just don’t know exactly when.

On Friday, nearly a year after Sinclair withdrew from international play, the Portland Thorns will honor the star forward in the team’s regular-season finale.

There’s also a chance Friday will be Sinclair’s last ever football game.

Last month, she announced she will retire at the end of the current National Women’s Soccer League season. The Thorns are tied for seventh in the standings entering the final week of the regular season tied with Bay FC on 31 points and three points ahead of ninth-place Racing Louisville. The eight best teams from the competition qualify for the play-offs.

While nothing is guaranteed, Portland will take control this weekend – a single point would put the club at 10th all-time in the playoffs, an NWSL record. Even a loss could see them progress if the results of Bay FC or Racing’s final matches favor the Thorns.

All of this makes for an anticlimax when it comes to finally saying goodbye to Sinclair.

Is that Friday coming? Perhaps a cruel double whammy for Thorns fans with a playoff elimination. Or it could happen when the playoffs start next week. Or the week after. Or maybe it won’t happen until late next month, when the Thorns make a run to the NWSL Championship.

And then there’s the feeling of déjà vu, because yes, this is technically Sinclair’s second retirement.

Last December, Sinclair wore the Canadian colors for the final time during an international friendly against Australia. In front of nearly 50,000 fans at Vancouver’s BC Place (renamed Christine Sinclair Place for the occasion), the Burnaby, BC native walked off the field for the Canadian national team for the final time, leaving the game for longtime teammate Sophie. Schmidt in the 57th minute.

In many ways it is unusual for Sinclair, ever the epitome of humility, to have two retirements, especially compared to some other recent high-profile players whose retirement tours played out like Groundhog Day. American forward Carli Lloyd announced her retirement in August 2021, and every match for the next three months for both Gotham FC and the US national team fell under the umbrella of the ‘Carli Lloyd Farewell Tour’.

Sinclair would have liked to have simply disappeared from public view and left the field without announcement and without recognition.

But perhaps to her chagrin, she’ll get one last moment in the spotlight.

While Sinclair’s retirement from professional football lacks the finality of her international farewell (aside from playing Portland in the NWSL Championship game), let’s focus on what we do know.

First, let’s take a look at Sinclair’s CV from her 25-year career: 190 international goals, the most by any female or male player of all time; three Olympic medals, including gold from the Tokyo Games; six World Cup appearances; a second place and a Golden Boot at the 2002 U-19 Women’s World Championship.

Sinclair also has two NCAA titles and two MAC Hermann Awards as the top collegiate player in women’s soccer, two WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer) titles, three NWSL championships and 65 NWSL regular season goals, third all-time.

The accolades alone make her worth a double pension.

Second, as beloved as Sinclair is among Canadians, she is just as beloved in Portland. She has been a Thorn since the inaugural NWSL season in 2013, and her origin story has become well-known in women’s soccer circles.

Shortly after the 2012 Olympics, Sinclair was about to hop on a plane to sign with European giant Paris Saint-Germain when she heard rumblings of not only a new professional women’s league in the United States (after WPS went bankrupt gone after the 2011 election season), but a team in Portland.

For her the choice was simple. The opportunity to play in Portland was too good to pass up.

Her ties to the city run deep. She had two uncles who played for the Portland Timbers. She played four seasons at the University of Portland and scored 110 goals in 94 games, winning two league titles.

Before the NWSL’s inaugural season, she and other players were asked to submit a list of their top three choices for an NWSL club. Once again, Sinclair’s choice was simple. She submitted her list of three clubs: Portland. Portland. Portland.

Although Sinclair has played all over the world, her hometown of Burnaby will always be close to her heart. And right next door is Portland.

She has spoken at length about her love for her home away from home. She repeats the joke from the TV show Portlandia that young people in Portland are retiring. But it’s easy to see why Sinclair fell in love with Portland, with its laid-back atmosphere reminiscent of Vancouver.

Sinclair vividly remembers walking out for her first home game at Providence Park with the supporter group, the Rose City Riveters, already filling the stands during team warm-ups. Portland averaged just over 13,000 fans during the NWSL’s inaugural season, nearly three times more than the nearest team.

“I knew what was possible in this city, and I knew the fans loved football,” Sinclair said.

While Friday may not mark the final finale for Sinclair, it is a chance for Portland fans to honor Sinclair for all she has given to the city for more than a decade. Regardless of the outcome of the game, Friday will be Sinclair’s last time on the Providence Park field, her last chance to receive a celebratory rose from the fan base.

The past year has felt a little different when it comes to Sinclair’s impact for both club and country. Canada has a new captain in Jessie Fleming. Last summer, at the Paris Olympics, the national team played its first major tournament without Sinclair since 1999.

Even in Portland, Sinclair is no longer the focus. American forward Sophia Smith leads the team with 11 goals and six assists. Becky Sauerbrunn has worn the captain’s armband for most of the season (although Sinclair has still captained her side, especially in recent matches).

In some ways it must have felt like a dream season for Sinclair. She has always tried to avoid the spotlight. That’s not easy when you’re the top scorer in the world.

At the age of 41, perhaps for the first time in her career, she can quietly go about her business. And even though her time on the field has gotten shorter, she’s still delivering moments.

Earlier this month, in her penultimate match at Providence Park, she helped Portland to a 2-0 victory over then-unbeaten Orlando Pride, keeping the Thorns in the play-off race with a stunning strike from the top of the box.

Four days after that goal, Sinclair had one final game in Vancouver, as the Thorns traveled to BC Place to take on the Whitecaps Girls Elite team in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.

There is no doubt that Canadian soccer fans – not to mention Sinclair herself – believed that December 5 game was the last time Sinclair would lead her team onto the BC Place field for Canada. But as a surprise bonus, she got another chance with her beloved Thorns and led her side to victory, including scoring a final goal on Canadian soil.

Her career is full of these moments for both Canada and Portland. And they are always backed by an unwavering humility and an undeniable commitment to never accepting anything less than the best of themselves, not because she craves the spotlight, but because her drive to see her team succeed is unparalleled.

So yes, Canadian fans, Portland fans, and soccer fans in general, get ready to say goodbye to a legend — even if we don’t know exactly when her career swan song takes place, and even if you already said goodbye last year.

Because it’s what she deserves.