With the game already in hand, Sinclair was introduced at the start of the second half, clearly an effort to get her closer to all-time women’s international goal scoring leader Abby Wambach’s total of 184. On a two-player break, SInclair opted to pass to Huitema for a tap-in rather than take it herself. And when Sinclair got no. 174, she did not scream or raise her arms in triumph. She led her teammates quietly back to half.

So, after Nichelle Prince’s brace gave Canada a 2-0 win over Jamaica in their group-stage opener at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, all is sweetness and light. Right? Right? A Friday night match in a Texas USL stadium in front of, well, hundreds didn’t provide a lot of fireworks, but three points is three points, uh huh?

Canada was terrible in the first half. Norway was even more terrible in the second.

Christine Sinclair used her left foot to place a shot neatly inside the far post. The goal stood as the winning tally as Canada beat Russia 2-1 Friday at the Algarve Cup.

The fact that such impressive performances were turned in by youngsters — from fullback Ashley Lawrence to midfielder Jessie Fleming to Beckie to Rose — bodes well for a program that, just four years before, was starved for young talent.

Maybe now, it’s time to believe in the work coach John Herdman and the women have put into this push for the podium. A gritty 1-0 quarter-final win over France wasn’t always pretty, there were some scares, but we know this — Canada can be called not just a medal threat, but a gold-medal threat.

The Canadian women’s national team that faced Brazil on Saturday in Toronto was disjointed and deserved to lose. The Canadian women’s team that faced Brazil Tuesday in Ottawa was nothing like that.

“It’s a tough test for us,” said Canadian women’s team coach John Herdman. “But, certainly, not a team that frightens Canada too much.”

The Sophie Schmidt show was good enough to beat England. She scored a fantastic goal from just outside the penalty area, had a free kick fly just inches over the bar, and had a good attempt off a short-corner set piece.

And the Japanese ended up with a 3-2 win, thanks to two terrible defensive mistakes by the Canadian centre backs.