Milligan, Anthony Lanier II return to Riders' lineup
2h ago
Some key players are back for the Riders as they get ready to host the Redblacks on Saturday at 1 p.m.
There was Christine Sinclair, second-highest goal scorer in women’s soccer history, watching as teammate Janine Beckie took a crucial penalty with Canada down 1-0 to Sweden.
And many wondered if this was the women’s soccer version of Gretzky not shooting in the Nagano Olympics shootout against the Czech Republic.
Similar yes, but not quite because the manager didn’t make the call who shot. It was Sinclair, who approached Beckie to ask the young, next star of the national team to take the shot.
Beckie’s ball was well struck, labelled for the lower corner, inside the post, but the Swedish netminder guessed correctly, dove to her right and tipped the ball wide.
It’s not a guarantee Sinclair would have made the shot. She was the only one not to score against Sweden in a shootout recently.
But where was the manager? Take the pressure off the players to try and figure it out in the moment and have a plan.
Though, with the lack of apparent tactics during the World Cup by the new man in charge of the team, maybe Sinclair was the right person to make the call.