Canadian veterans announce retirements from women's soccer team

Forward Melissa Tancredi, along with defenders Rhian Wilkinson and Marie-Ève Nault, three of Canada's longest-tenured soccer players, announced their retirements from the women's national team on Friday.

Tancredi and Wilkinson will make their final appearance with the team in a Feb. 4 game against Mexico at Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium. Nault will be attendance at the match but not in the lineup.​

"These women are leaders, role models and ambassadors for this game," head coach John Herdman said in a press release. "They have driven this team to success in their own unique ways and we will miss them immensely."

Tancredi earned two Olympic bronze medals and appeared at three World Cups in 124 matches with the national team. The 35-year-old from Ancaster, Ont., had 27 goals and 20 assists in her career and was the second-leading scorer on Canada's Olympic team at the 2012 London Games behind icon Christine Sinclair.

Tancredi, who was a two-time All-American and NCAA champion at Notre Dame, took two years away from the national team after London to finish her Doctor of Chiropractic degree. She returned to the team for her third and final Olympics in Rio.

Wilkinson, a fellow centurion, was a model of consistency for Canada over her 180 matches dating back to the 2003 World Cup in the United States. The 34-year-old Baie d'Urfé, Que., native also owns two Olympic bronze medals and was named to the All-Time Canada XI women's team in 2012.

Wilkinson was also an assistant coach for Canada's under-20 women's team at the 2014 U-20 World Cup on home soil. Her last professional season was with the NWSL's Portland Thorns in 2015.

Nault, a teammate of Wilkinson's at the University of Tennessee, made her national team debut in 2004 and was a member of both bronze-winning teams, but was an alternate in Rio.

According to Wilkinson, Nault's inspirational words helped the 2016 squad overcome its semifinal loss and earn a second-consecutive podium place.

The 34-year-old from Trois-Rivières, Que., plays professionally for KIF Örebro in Sweden along with Tancredi.

"On behalf of Canada Soccer, we thank these three players for their years of commitment and dedication and wish them nothing but the best in the future," Peter Montopoli, Canada Soccer's general secretary said in a press release. "They have helped Canada Soccer's women's national team become our country's most celebrated summer Olympic team sport of all time."