Time may heal all wounds, but the pain from Canada’s 2-1 quarter-final loss to England in the Women’s World Cup is still fresh for Christine Sinclair.

“It still stings,” Sinclair told TSN.ca of bowing out to the Lionesses in Vancouver just under a fortnight ago. “You have dreams, hope of a home World Cup that you’re going to be in the final. But now that I’ve spent a couple of weeks looking at it and thinking about the bigger picture, hopefully, we’ve inspired a generation of young Canadians to dream of playing soccer and representing their country. In terms of that, I see it as a huge success.”

Sinclair and Canada were, perhaps, victims of previous success when it came to expectations heading into the tournament. Outside of a major tournament, soccer isn’t near the forefront of the Canadian sporting consciousness – the Canadian men’s national team barely registers at all – and the last memory of this women’s side that most casual observers have is a bronze-medal performance at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Sinclair was Canada's leading goal scorer at the World Cup with 2.

“I think – at least the way I saw it – with London and winning a bronze there, that was really the first time that a lot of people paid attention to our team,” Sinclair said. “They saw us winning an Olympic medal and, therefore, thought that this team has a great chance of winning the World Cup – they just finished third at the Olympics. In reality, heading into the tournament, we were ranked eighth in the world. If we were going to win the World Cup, we were going to have to fight and claw our way through a lot of the games.”

Even with not living up to anticipated potential (however inflated it might have been), Sinclair sees a silver lining.

“I think a little bit of the expectations were unrealistic, but, at the same time, as a player who’s been on the team for a long time, I’ve been waiting for these expectations from Canadians,” Sinclair explained. “It means they care.”

Along with those expectations came an unprecedented media spotlight for the CWNT in playing for the sport’s top prize at home. The combination could have been toxic, but Sinclair says the team was prepared for the crush.

“We were together for a long period of time before the World Cup and we went through a lot of media training,” Sinclair said. “We spent a lot of time with our sports psychologist, just dealing with ‘What if?’ scenarios. Each individual person had her own strategy. I deleted Twitter from my phone. I don’t need that in my life during a tournament like this. After the first couple of games, I think the media were sort of turning on us a little bit, we just ignored it and focused on what we could control.”

What can’t be regulated by the team is a relatively congested fixture schedule. The team needs to quickly put the World Cup behind it and prepare for next August’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Though the dates have yet to be finalized, the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship is expected to be held in February. The top two teams in the eight-team tourney will qualify for Rio.

For Sinclair, having something to focus on almost immediately after the disappointment of the World Cup is welcome.

“It’s huge,” said Sinclair. “For instance, I’m playing professionally in Portland, Oregon [with the Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League] and I went down there pretty much right after the World Cup ended. I wanted to get back on the bike. That’s how I cope with things, just to get back on the field.

“Then, with the national team, we’ve got a few months away from each other and then we regroup in maybe October, November to get ready for the Olympic qualifiers. It’s interesting with the Olympics right around the corner. We obviously have a lot of work to do.”

Canada’s head coach, John Herdman, will also have a lot of work to do in the coming months in preparation for the Olympics when it comes to player selection for his squad.

Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc has already retired following the World Cup after 17 years and 110 caps. Stalwarts Erin McLeod, Melissa Tancredi, Marie-Eve Nault, Rhian Wilkinson, Diana Matheson, Carmelina Moscato and Sinclair are all into their 30s. With the likes of Kadeisha Buchanan, Jessie Fleming and Ashley Lawrence emerging as stars, roster turnover is inevitable and necessary.

Maple Ridge, BC native LeBlanc said goodbye to the CWNT after 17 years and 100 caps.

There is a phrase, though, bandied about as to what will happen with the CMNT in the coming months that Sinclair doesn’t necessarily like.

“It’s weird that people say ‘changing of the guard,’” said Sinclair. “I think what John has done is slowly incorporated the young players. The roster can’t be the same. We had a roster of 23 at the World Cup and, I think, the roster is down to 18 for qualifying for the Olympics. There are going to be some people that aren’t going to be a part of it anymore. Whether that’s through being cut or through retirement or through young players coming in, the roster is not going to be the same, but I have no doubt that John will have the team ready.”

Sinclair, 32 last month, will not be part of that turnover and there’s even a part of her that’s looking beyond Brazil.

“Once one World Cup ends, I feel like there’s some unfinished business,” Sinclair said of the next edition to be held in France in 2019. “It’s in the back of your mind, but obviously, the focus right now is just qualifying for Rio.”

A more immediate concern for Sinclair is the remainder of her NWSL season with the Thorns. Almost halfway through their season, the Thorns sit seventh in the nine-team table. The league’s top four teams qualify for the playoffs.

Sinclair’s return to the side is part of the homecoming of a whole host of international teammates who spent the better part of the last month battling one another. She counts fellow CWNT members Wilkinson and Kailyn Kyle, Germany ‘keeper Nadine Angerer, England striker Jodie Taylor and World Cup-winning American internationals Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath among her Thorns teammates.

Sinclair says that foes becoming friends again makes for a fun atmosphere around the Thorns these days.

“It’s interesting because, not only do you have all these players coming back from the World Cup and competing against each other, but you have a group of players who have been in Portland this whole time,” said Sinclair. “You’re sort of just reintroducing everyone; we’re all on the same team again. I like hearing the stories of other teams’ experiences here in Canada, to hear if they liked it or not or what they think of the country. It’s great. We’ve got a pretty stacked team in Portland and I can’t wait to get back on the field with those guys.”

In 46 appearances with the Portland Thorns, Sinclair has scored 16 times.

The Thorns are the best-supported team in the three-year-old NWSL. Last season, the team averaged close to 13,500 fans a game at Providence Park, the home they share with MLS’ Timbers. While that number is certainly eye-opening for a women’s professional league in North America, it’s an aberration. The league’s average attendance for the other eight teams was under 3,000, but the potential for growth is obvious.

The World Cup was a television ratings smash in North America.

Approximately 20.8 million Canadians (unique viewers) watched the World Cup, including an average audience of 3.2 million for Canada’s quarter-final match with England. Among those viewers, an estimated 10.1 million were female. In the U.S., the World Cup final between the USWNT and Japan was the most-watched soccer game in the history of Nielsen recorded data with 30.9 million Americans tuning in at viewership peak.

Sinclair believes that it’s imperative to strike while the iron is hot when it comes to growing the game.

“It can’t be something that just happens every four years,” said Sinclair. “A lot of people paid attention to London and then the World Cup, but there’s a big gap between them. I think we have to do a better job of filling that gap. I know for my sport particularly, it’d be nice to get a couple of professional teams here in Canada where people can continue to see their heroes play day in, day out. That’d be my goal.”

With NWSL expansion in the offing for the near future, Sinclair’s goal might be closer to reality than ever before.