The first time Mia Hamm and Christine Sinclair crossed paths on the soccer field was on May 7, 2000; the American was already a living legend while the Canadian was a lanky 16-year-old national-team rookie.

The final time they crossed paths, in a manner of speaking, was on Feb. 14, 2016, when the Canadian captain did something she once thought no one could ever do: Surpass Hamm’s international goal-scoring total.

“I remember thinking after my first year or two on the national team, ‘oh my God, she has so many goals,’” says Sinclair, who admits to idolizing Hamm as a kid. “How is anyone going to reach that level?”

But in 2016, the now-33-year-old Sinclair reached that level (Hamm retired in 2004 with 158 international goals) and surpassed it, finishing the year with 165 goals. Sinclair is now within reasonable striking distance of all-time leader Abby Wambach (184 goals).

And yet, while Hamm and Wambach have both been recognized with FIFA’s World Player of the Year Award, Sinclair has never finished higher than fifth in the voting.

In 2016, once again — despite helping lead Canada to an Olympic bronze and the Portland Thorns to the NWSL Shield — she’ll be on the outside looking in when the FIFA award is handed out. Why, despite being the second-most prolific goal-scorer in history, is Sinclair is still so underrated?

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Partly, it’s her nationality, and we don’t just mean her quiet and humble off-field demeanor, which fits so snugly into the stereotype of the “polite Canadian.”

Rather, she doesn’t get the notoriety that comes with playing for a perennial powerhouse like the U.S., which has won three of seven Women’s World Cups, four of six Olympic tournaments and never fallen below No. 2 in the FIFA Women’s Rankings.

The Canadian team, by contrast, has just reached its highest-ever ranking (No. 4), buoyed by a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics and a quarterfinal finish at the 2015 World Cup. It’s exciting and groundbreaking by Canadian standards, but not enough to really move the needle from a global perspective.

My focus for the next four years is to get this team ranked No. 1 in the world. That’s what motivates me every day and I’m hoping that’s what is motivating my teammates, because it’s right there.

Sinclair’s brand-building has also been hamstrung by the fact that, unlike multiple-time World Player of the Year Award winners Birgit Prinz (2003-05) and Marta (2006-10), she ha ’ s never played in an established European league.

Instead, Sinclair’s club career has taken place entirely in North America, during which time two different women’s professional leagues (W - USA and WPS) have come and gone, and a third (NWSL) is still fighting for prominence and relevance in a crowded sporting market.

Also, Sinclair’s role with the Canadian national team — the time with which global audiences will be most familiar — has shifted in recent years.

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For nearly a decade, Canada was able to succeed based on a rather simplistic strategy of lumping the ball down the field and waiting for Sinclair to make magic happen. But with the rapid rise in tactical prowess throughout the global game, both the Canadian team and Sinclair herself have needed to adjust.

Rather than being the out-and-out striker she once was, Sinclair now plays in more of a “false nine” attacking midfield position. It’s a role she’s happy to fulfill, as it allows her to get more involved in the action and support young teammates like Janine Beckie and Deanne Rose.

But it also means she’s no longer the epicenter of the team in the way she once was. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see a repeat of her performance in 2012, when she scored a ridiculous 23 goals in 22 games for Canada, including a hat trick in the epic Olympic semifinal loss to against the United States.

That was such a breakthrough that Sinclair became the first soccer player to ever win the Lou Marsh Trophy, an award given annually since 1936 to Canada’s top athlete.

Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

It will also likely go down as her best shot at nabbing FIFA’s top hono u r; the 2012 award, instead, went to Wambach. Fellow American Alex Morgan finished third, while Sinclair ended up fifth.

Is it because the Americans won Olympic gold, while Canada claimed bronze? Did Sinclair’s comments about the officiating in that infamous semifinal game, for which she was subsequently punished by FIFA, play a part in the voters’ decision?

In any event, Sinclair has a clear focus in the twilight of her national-team career, and it has nothing to do with FIFA awards or breaking Wambach’s goal-scoring record.

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“It’s weird but in my head, it was a bigger deal to pass Mia, just because of what she meant to me as a youngster growing up,” says Sinclair.

“My focus for the next four years is to get this team ranked No. 1 in the world. That’s what motivates me every day and I’m hoping that’s what is motivating my teammates, because it’s right there.”

If Sinclair can help Canada finally reach the top of the mountain at either the 2019 Women’s World Cup or 2020 Olympics, perhaps she’ll finally receive universal recognition as what she indisputably is: One of the greatest players who’s ever lived.

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