Before the Portland Thorns took the field for the second half against the Houston Dash on Sunday, Christine Sinclair did something she doesn’t normally do.

Ahead 1-0 and 45 minutes away from clinching the red and black’s second-ever NWSL Shield, the captain gathered her team into a huddle and talked to them with an intensity not often seen from the quiet, humble leader.

She only does it once or twice a year.

“That’s her,” Thorns head coach Mark Parsons said after the game. “She knows the moment where she needs to share the wisdom.”

The Thorns went on to hold their lead in the second half, secure the win, and claim the 2021 Shield as the NWSL club with the most points in the regular season.

“There’s no other leader like Sinc,” said Parsons. “She’s the best of the best on the pitch; she’s the best of the best off the pitch. She leads by example by having the highest standards in every moment in everything she does.”

The NWSL Shield adds to a memorable year for Sinclair, who also captained the Canadian national team to their first-ever Olympic gold, and the Thorns to both the Challenge Cup and International Champions Cup titles.

Christine Sinclair just keeps winning
👏 @sincy12
NWSL Shield 2016 🏆 2021 🏆
NWSL Championship 2013 🏆 2017 🏆
NWSL Fall Series 2020 🏆
NWSL Challenge Cup 2021 🏆
International Champions Cup 2021 🏆
WPS Championship 2010 🏆 2011 🏆
WPS Season 2010 🏆 2011 🏆
USL W-League 2006 🏆 pic.twitter.com/SZfJDLn1fi

— Canada Soccer's Women's National Team (@CANWNT) October 18, 2021

Portland hasn’t lost a title since the 2020 Challenge Cup. In last year’s Fall Series, Sinclair scored six goals, including a hat trick against OL Reign, throughout the final three matches to lead the Thorns to first place.

Parsons summed it up in the simplest, most accurate way: “Sinc wins trophies.”

On a personal level, the Burnaby, B.C. native has also been nominated for the 2021 Ballon d’Or. Since the award was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, it’ll be the first one handed out since her historic 185th goal that made her international soccer’s all-time leading scorer.

She’s also top of her league. There are no official all-time stats for the NWSL, but according to a CBC article, Sinclair had 61 goals at the end of the 2021 Challenge Cup, while Lynn Williams had 59, and with Sinclair’s five regular-season goals and Williams’ seven, the two are tied at 66, making them the active players with the most all-time league goals. (Chelsea’s Sam Kerr still holds the NWSL record, with 88).

It makes sense why Sinclair would prefer a quieter leadership style. Her talent speaks volumes on its own.

“She’s not the type of ‘rah-rah’ leader you would expect captains to be,” said Thorns teammate and goalkeeper Bella Bixby. “She leads by example, and she leads with just a presence that we respond really well to when she’s around.”

“I think she’s someone we all look to in terms of how to manage the game and just locking it down for us.”

But humility is also just naturally who Sinclair is. She’s never been drawn to the media or sponsorships, always turns reporters’ questions about her into answers about the team, and repeatedly says that for her it’s never been about the records, it’s about being a good teammate.

“When I talk about players that I’ve learned from as a coach and as a person, I often think of many, but no one like Sinc,” said Parsons.

“She always puts everyone else first, and as a result we have not just the best player, but the best leader on our club and we’re proud of it.”

All this isn’t to say Sinclair doesn’t have her moments of being human. She’s been caught swearing in frustration at a game or getting upset with teammates. On Sunday, she was subbed out in the 75th minute, fuming and ignoring high fives on her way to the bench after playing through a nasty hit to the ankles from Dash midfielder and Canadian teammate Sophie Schmidt.

Schmidt has been playing with Sinclair the longest of anyone on the current national team. They’ll return to Canada this week, along with the rest of the Canadian squad, to start the Celebration Tour for the Olympic gold, beginning Oct. 23 in Ottawa, Ont.

It’s celebration time! Canada…see you soon! pic.twitter.com/lGkCUdohD8

— Christine Sinclair (@sincy12) October 18, 2021

Sinclair hasn’t made any indications of retiring as the Canadians head into preparations for the 2023 FIFA World Cup. She’ll have just turned 40 by the time the tournament begins.

She certainly doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

On Sunday, Parsons was impressed with her counter pressing and the way she set up the attack.

“She’s looking as good, as effective and as intense even in our fourth game in 10 days,” he said. “In the first half she was counter pressing and setting attacks up. It was just like her first game of the four games in 10 days.”

After one more regular season game on Oct. 30 against the North Carolina Courage, the Thorns will move onto the Nov. 14 semifinals where they have clinched home-field advantage.

Being backed by Sinclair’s leadership provides a sense of composure for Portland as they look to finish strong on a dominant season.

“[She’s] often there for me,” said Parsons. “Oftentimes I lean on her for support, if I ask her about the right thing that can help the team at the right time. She’s always, always set me up to help the team in the best way I can.”

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern at Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.