Canada's Sinclair bids farewell in final international outing

Christine Sinclair bid an emotional farewell to international soccer on Tuesday with one final match that brought an end to a superlative career in which she catapulted the Canadian national women's team from obscurity to Olympic champions.

The result of the friendly, a 1-0 win over Australia played in Sinclair's home province of British Columbia, did not matter as the night was all about celebrating Canada's most successful soccer player of all time.

"Thank you for inspiring all of us," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on social media. "Your impact on the game, and on sports in Canada, is something we'll be celebrating for quite some time."

The world's all-time leading scorer in internationals has often shied away from the spotlight and holds team accomplishments above her many personal achievements.

But on this tribute-filled night in Vancouver the 40-year-old striker could not avoid taking centre stage.

A dozen members of Canada's bronze medal team from the 2012 Olympics, where Sinclair won the Golden Boot, formed an honour guard to welcome her onto the pitch before the scoreboard played a tribute video that left her wiping away tears.

"We are all going to miss you wearing the red and white but as Canadians we thank you for what you've done. You are truly a national treasure," twice Olympic gold medallist speedskater Catriona Le May Doan said during the pre-game festivities.

'JUST JOY'

Unlike in recent games where she came off the bench, Sinclair got the start in front of the roughly 48 000 spectators inside a stadium which was renamed in her honour for the night.

Sinclair, who announced her retirement in October, had a hand in the only goal of the game, flicking Jessie Fleming's corner to Kadeisha Buchanan