Christine Sinclair's Canadian career is over, but her impact will be felt for generations

Before Christine Sinclair's last game for Canada on Tuesday night, 190 youth soccer players walked in long lines onto the field, one for each of her 190 international goals. They wore red jerseys like hers, some of them down to their knees, 190 little Christine Sinclairs.

Their idol stood nearby, at the centre of the pitch, looking up at the big screen at Vancouver's BC Place, renamed Christine Sinclair Place for the night for good measure.

A tribute video included grainy footage from 2000, when she made her national-team debut. She was 16 years old, not much older than the chorus of admiring girls in front of her. Tears filled her eyes, seeing so many versions of her younger self.

Today she is 40, and her final appearance, a friendly against Australia not far from her hometown of Burnaby, B.C., took place in higher definition. Canada won, 1-0, and 48,112 fans — the largest for a women's soccer friendly in Canadian history — saw it with the clarity that only time brings.

WATCH | Sinclair honoured in pre-game ceremony:

It's hard to encapsulate such an enormous career. Sinclair played for her country 331 times over more than 23 years, which somehow feels like forever and an instant.

Her 190 international goals are the most for any soccer player in history. She scored her first on March 4, 2000, when she was that 16-year-old on the big screen. It came in only her second official game, against Norway at the Algarve Cup.

She scored her last on July 5, 2022, when she was 39 years old, against Trinidad and Tobago at the CONCACAF W Championship. That was in her 311th game.

In between, she scored against 40 more countries.

WATCH | Sinclair plays part on Canada's winning goal:

She didn't score against Australia, but