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WINNIPEG - Its one thing when your teammates think youre the glue that binds Canadas womens soccer team, but its something else entirely when one of your rivals thinks youre literally the best in the world. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys .Ive said for a long time that I believe, in my humble opinion, that Christine Sinclair is the best player in the world, said Hope Solo, the goalkeeper for the U.S. team Canada will play Thursday in a friendly.You dont always get to see how brilliant she is because she doesnt always have the support players but I think now shes starting to get the support players she needs to really highlight her own play.That means Solo ranks Sinclair above Brazils Marta — a five-time FIFA World Player of the Year — and even her own teammate Abby Wambach, who has scored more goals than Sinclair or anyone else in womens soccer.She plays both sides of the ball, Solo said. Marta, she gets the ball with her feet, she can score goals. But Christine Sinclair, she reads the game, she passes, she gets assists and shes dangerous every time she gets the ball. . . Ive looked up to her and Ive admired her as a player for a really long time.Sinclairs teammates are still in awe of her talent.Shes sort of that pivotal girl for us, said midfielder Desiree Scott, the Winnipeg native playing for the first time live in front of her parents this week.She makes everything tick and shes the one we rely on.Sinclair and Canada will need every bit of talent and skill they can muster to beat the No. 1-ranked Americans. Theyve already lost their first meeting this year and Canada, ranked seventh in the world, hasnt beat the U.S. since 2001.The rivalry between the teams has taken on more of an edge since the U.S. beat Canada in the semifinals at the 2012 Olympics, but Sinclair says the real goal remains peaking when the World Cup is held here in 2015.As for stepping to the spotlight Solo and others would like to shine on her, Sinclair remains reticent as ever.Its not always something Ive embraced because its a team sport and Ive always said that, you know, you cant be the best if you havent won anything, she said after practice Tuesday.I think finally at the Olympics, as a team we were able to show and as a team I think weve started to get the respect we deserve around the world.She is an 11-time winner of the Canada Soccer Player of the Year Award and has been on the national team for 14 years. Despite all that experience, at 30, Sinclair also says her game has improved, and like her team she feels that peak is coming at just the right time for a World Cup in Canada.But defeating the Americans, who have perfected so many aspects of their game, means finding new ways to break free from a defence that did a good job of shutting her down the last time they met.It seemed that every time I got the ball I had two people on me. It was a little frustrating. As a player, in terms of developing . . . I need to learn how to cope with that, she said.Meanwhile, U.S. forward Wambach wasnt too thrilled at the idea of playing on artificial turf like the surface in Winnipeg come 2015, when Canada hosts the World Cup.It will run from June 6 to July 5 and games will be played in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton. Of those, only Monctons tiny 10,000-seat stadium has real grass.The reality is the World Cup would never be played on turf if it were the men, Wambach said after practising on Investors Group Field Tuesday and noting that there were pebbles and even nails as workers renovate parts of the press box and other areas in the stadium that only opened last year.She said she assumes that will be cleaned up, but it isnt her point.Im going to stand by what Ive been saying. We deserve to be treated just like the men do. Francisco Liriano Jersey . "All he says is, its crazy," DeMar DeRozan told reporters following Torontos win over the Pistons Wednesday. The Raptors longest-serving members, Johnson and DeRozan have had two coaches and 56 different teammates in five seasons with the club, all without appearing in a single playoff game. Lonnie Chisenhall Pirates Jersey . -- Canadian freestyle skier Roz Groenewoud isnt letting surgery to both of her knees deter her expectations for the Sochi Olympics. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Jordan-Lyles-pirates-jersey/ . -- Phil Mickelson will be watching the final two rounds of the Masters from home for the first time in 17 years.ST. LOUIS -- Travis Wood made a beeline for fellow pitcher Jeff Samardzijas locker. He wanted to apologize for all of that run support. "I instantly came in here and gave him a hug and said sorry," the lefty said after the Chicago Cubs got six RBIs from Junior Lake in a 17-5 rout over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. "The offence played great, they brought their A game." Samardzija has a 1.45 ERA, but is 0-3. The Cubs have totalled 15 runs in his eight starts. Lake homered and doubled twice for Chicago, which had lost seven of eight overall. The Cubs totalled just four runs while getting swept in a three-game series at Atlanta over the weekend -- Emilio Bonifacio scored five times himself in this romp. "Thats what we needed," Lake said. "Just play hard and something happened good." Chicago has the worst record in the league at 13-24, but is 4-3 against the defending NL champions. The Cardinals were forced to finish with infielder Daniel Descalso as a relief pitcher getting the final out in the ninth. Its the first time St. Louis used a position player to pitch since Rob Johnson against the Dodgers in a 13-4 loss at home Aug. 7. "Its embarrassing to have to put him into that spot," manager Mike Matheny said. "Hes a team guy and understands, but should have never been in that spot to begin with." "Its tough for all of us to watch." The Cubs hit for the cycle in the first five batters -- Bonifacio doubled, Anthony Rizzo singled, Starlin Castro tripled and Mike Olts two-run homer capped a four-run first inning. Bonifacio had four of Chicagos 20 hits and scored a career-best five times -- the most in the majors this season -- once on a play overturned by video review. Rizzo and Castro each drove in three as the Cubs set season highs for runs and hits. Cardinals reliever Randy Choate gave up a career-worst six runs in the ninth and left with two outs. Descalso made his first pro pitching appearance and retired the only batter he faced, getting Oltt on a fly ball. Bill Mazeroski Jersey. "I just went out there and did what they asked me to do," Descalso said. "I really dont want to talk about this." Wood (3-4) beat St. Louis for the second time in three starts despite giving up five runs in six innings. He hit two batters in the fifth and both scored. Tyler Lyons (0-3) surrendered nine runs in four innings in his fourth start in place of injured Joe Kelly. "I felt a lot better the first two innings than I did in the third and fourth," Lyons said. "Its just one of those things. Sometimes you just get hit, I guess." Allen Craig drove in two runs for the Cardinals. Yadier Molina had two hits, an RBI and a steal when he caught Wood napping in the fifth and took third without a throw. Lake hit a three-run homer in the second for a 7-0 lead. He had an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run double in the ninth. Lake began the game with eight RBIs in 92 at-bats this season. Three of his four homers have come against the Cardinals. "Hes electric, for sure," Wood said. "When hes on, hes on. Hes got tremendous pop and nice to see it come out." Olt leads NL with eight homers, including four in the last six games, all on the road. In the fourth, Bonifacio was called out at the plate when he tried to score on Rizzos grounder to short with the infield in. The Cubs challenged the call, and the ruled was reversed. NOTES: The Cubs previous bests for runs and hits came at Comiskey Park on Thursday when they scored 12 runs on 15 hits against the White Sox. ... Bonifacio is the first Cubs player to score five runs since Jody Davis in 1987. ... Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (6-2, 4.75) opposes Jake Arrieta (0-0, 2.89) in the second game of a four-game set. Wainwright is 9-7 for his career against Chicago but just 3-6 with a 4.83 ERA at home, and is coming off his first career loss at Wrigley Field on May 2. ... Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia, rehabbing from shoulder surgery, allowed two runs on three hits in five innings for Triple-A Memphis. ' ' '