We begin our look back at the 2015 Women’s World Cup with a salute to the champions — this tournament was held on Canadian soil but, by the time the final kicked off, the Americans had made it theirs — on the field and in the stands...

Meanwhile, even though Alex Morgan — who scored the U.S. winner in that Olympic semifinal — plays for Portland, the Timbers are clearly Canada’s team. Christine Sinclair didn’t score in the Timbers come-from-behind 3-2 extra-time semifinal win over FC Kansas City, but Canada’s all-time leading scorer netted eight times for Timbers this season.

Canadian referee Carol Anne Chenard’s name is on the list. Norwegian official Christina Pedersen’s name is not.

So we went under the website’s hood and looked at the analytics. And, we were able to rank our 11 most-read stories of the year. Now, we present them in order.

But, in FIFA’s eyes — they are both controversial figures. And if there is one thing we have learned about FIFA, black sheep rarely get recognized.

When the result of voting for FIFA’s women’s player of the year is revealed Jan. 7, it will be a referendum of sorts.

It was suffragist Nellie McClung who uttered one of the most famous lines in Canadian history “Never retract, never explain, never apologize--get the thing done and let them howl.” That statement could apply to Sinclair.

And maybe this is the problem with sport today — we have become far too quick to judge athletes who are frustrated when they lose. As journalists, we are such hypocrites — we want our subjects and interviews to give us as much colour as they can, to be as honest and emotional as possible, then, after the stories run, we go off and say “(s)he shouldn’t have said that to the media.”

“The Canadian Soccer Association supports the work of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and will continue to cooperate fully,” said Victor Montagliani, President of the Canadian Soccer Association, in a release issued Wednesday.

In a conference call with media Tuesday, the Canadian Soccer Association announced that the team will not be making any more comments on the officiating in that semifinal game. The CSA also confirmed that it will not be challenging or protesting the decision.