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.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. Pharrell NMD Hu China . -- In the stadium program sold at the Miami Dolphins game on Halloween, Richie Incognito was asked whos the easiest teammate to scare. Adidas NMD Clearance Sale . Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, president of the EOM (Municipal Olympic Company), will be leaving her post but will remain as an advisor, a city hall statement said Tuesday. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/ . - Chelseas 1-0 win at the Etihad, spoiling Manchester Citys perfect home record continues to be the talking point of the week. Adidas NMD Wholesale China . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged. Adidas NMD Womens Pink .com) - Rakeem Christmas scored 21 points, B.SALT LAKE CITY -- There are times when Alec Burks is driving to the hoop and he has no idea what hes going to do. "I surprise myself on some of these shots I make," Utahs reserve guard said. The Jazz breathed a collective sigh of relief when Burks put together a string of circus shots after the rest of the team had gone cold. Burks scored 10 of his 26 points in the final two minutes to lift the Jazz to a 105-100 win over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "Alec did a great job closing the game out for us, attacking the basket," said Utah coach Ty Corbin after the Jazz endured a six-minute scoreless stretch with seven missed shots and two turnovers. The game was tied 91-1ll when the Jazz looked to Burks to create some offence. The guard made a number of acrobatic drives to the basket and capped a personal 9-0 run with a soaring dunk to make it 100-91 with 22 seconds to play. Utahs top scorer off the bench got to the free throw line with his aggressive play, making 13 of 14 from the stripe in 22 minutes of play. "I relish contact. I really was just trying to be aggressive," Burks said. "Thats my game, going to the hoop." His clutch scoring extended Utahs season-best winning streak to three and sent the Sixers to their ninth straight road loss to the Jazz. Evan Turner scored 21 points and Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young had 19 apiece for Philadelphia. The 76ers lost their eighth straight, the last two by more than 40 points while nearly matching the NBA mark for the largest total margin of defeat in consecutive games. Philadelphia has given up nearly 116 points per game over the eight-game skid. Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Marvin Williams had 13 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as the Jazz had six players score in double figures. The problem was that no one could find the hoop in the middle of the fourth quarter when they surrendered a 14-point lead. Burks hit a 3-pointer and Richard Jefferson stole a pass and dunked for an 85-71 lead with 10:02 to play. The 76ers then rallied, extending their defence and holding the Jazz scoreless for more than six minutes during a 13-0 run. Spencer Hawes tipped in his own miss to cap the run and then Carter-Williams converted a three-point play after Trey Burke broke Utahs drought to tie the game at 91 with 2:10 to play. Burks had 24 to lead the Jazz over the Lakkers in Los Angeles on Tuesday and then continued his instant offence in the second half the back-to-back set.dddddddddddd Utahs reserves outscored their Philadelphia counterparts, 56-10. James Anderson, who had 15 points, made a trio of 3-pointers in the final 18 seconds, but it was too late after Burks outburst. The Sixers showed some fight in their last game before the All-Star break and the finale of a disastrous three-game road trip. Following a 123-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the 76ers fell behind by 49 points before losing 123-80 to Golden State on Monday No other team in NBA history had lost two straight games by at least 40 points each. Philadelphia has now done it twice, having lost back-to-back games in April 1994 by a combined 93 points. The Detroit Pistons set the record for margin of defeat in consecutive games, losing 95 points combined in back-to-back games in November 1966, according to STATS. One highlight for Philadelphia has been the play of rookie Carter-Williams, who had eight assists and leads all rookies in scoring, rebounding and assists. This was the first game between Carter-Williams, who was drafted 11th, and fellow lottery pick Burke (picked ninth) since their Final Four meeting in April. Burke struggled again Wednesday as he did in Michigans 61-56 win over Syracuse, when he had seven points on 1-of-8 shooting. Burke had seven points on 3-of-12 shooting against Philadelphia. "I thought Michael played with great poise. He could have handled this particular matchup in different ways. I thought he grew tonight," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. Derrick Favours left the game in the first quarter after re-injuring his right hip. He missed a wide-open layup on the first Jazz possession of the game and never got any lift. In six minutes of play, he limped slightly and then left the game and went to the locker room. The Jazz centre has missed four other games with the hip strain and Utah had lost all six contests when Favours is out with injury. NOTES: Brandon Davies, who was raised in Utah and played at BYU, has missed the Sixers last 14 games with a fractured pinkie finger. ... In the third quarter, the Sixers purposely fouled Rudy Gobert, who shoots 51 per cent from the line, but the 7-footer swished both attempts. ... Philadelphia backup big man Lavoy Allen left the game with a sore left knee and did not return. ' ' '