John Herdman says suspending Christine Sinclair for sa国际传媒's historic bronze-medal match would have robbed the London Olympics of one of the finest players in women's soccer.
sa国际传媒 will have its captain and leading goal-scorer in the lineup Thursday when it battles France for its first Olympic medal, welcome news a day after the threat of FIFA sanctions hung over the squad.
"We were on tenterhooks," said Herdman, sa国际传媒's coach. "But more, just the danger of the game losing an opportunity of seeing a great player playing a bronze medal match.
"I think people came to their senses, and have made a great decision for the good of the game. I think Christine is in a great space now, there's nothing worse than going to bed wondering what's going to happen."
sa国际传媒's players are clear to start because a FIFA probe into their behaviour won't be completed before the game kicks off. The sport's governing body is investigating "incidents that occurred" following sa国际传媒's controversial 4-3 semifinal loss to the United States -- a game that Sinclair and her teammates said they believed was decided by the officials.
The Canadians were openly critical of Norwegian match referee Christina Pedersen, who awarded a free kick on a call the players had said they'd never seen before against Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod. Pedersen whistled McLeod for holding the ball for more than six seconds, which led to a tying goal by the Americans.
Sinclair, who scored a hat trick in sa国际传媒's loss in arguably the best game of her career, said she doesn't regret what she said.
"It's an emotional time," said Sinclair, who has now has 143 career goals. "We just lost the semifinal of the Olympics in one way or another, and we felt a little robbed so we said those things and I don't think any of us regret anything."
Melissa Tancredi, who initially rushed past reporters after the game before returning to talk, said her words were just an outpouring of raw emotion.
TODAY
4 a.m. on Ch. 23 (SNP)
9 a.m. on Chs. 9/18 (CTV/NBC)
10 a.m. on Ch. 23 (SNP)
3 p.m. on Ch. 9 (CTV)
EARLY FRIDAY
4 a.m. on Ch. 23 (SNP)
7:30 a.m. on Ch. 24 (OLN)
