Music: {allcanada} Canada Looking To Upset USA In Soccer Semi-Finals

Christine Sinclair and the Canadian women's soccer team will be in tough when they face United States in semi-final action, today at 2:30pm et/11:30am pt. on TSN and CTVOlympics.ca.

No matter which way you look at this match-up, history is not on the side of a Canadian team that has already made history by advancing into the semi-final round of the women's soccer tournament.

The United States has won 43 of the 51 meetings between these two nations, including a 2-1 victory over Canada the last time they met in June on American soil.

Their one previous Olympic Games meeting was the quarter-finals of Beijing 2008, which the Americans claimed with an extra-time goal after the teams played to a 90 minute 1-1 draw.

Canada is also riding a 26 match winless streak against the No.1-ranked team with their last victory coming in a 2001 Algarve Cup fixture.

With history slanted so much against them it wouldn't be surprising if the team ignored it altogether, but Canada's head coach John Herdman is not planning to run from the past.

"There's something in there," said Herdman. "We've opened this up and we'll have a really good conversation with the players. They know there's something in there. There's a little fear there that we've not done it for a while. We've only beaten them four or five times in our history. So we'll go towards that. We'll open that Pandora's Box, have a chat about it, and we'll see if we can unearth a few things. We'll not hide from the fact that players are thinking when they're on their own that this is a massive task and it hasn't been done for a long time."

Against a partisan crowd in their quarter-final match against Great Britain, Canada came out of the gate with a strong offensive push, and with the help of goals from Jonelle Filigno and captain Christine Sinclair ran out to what would prove to be an insurmountable 2-0 lead, to earn their place in the final four.

"USA are obviously favourites for the tournament and are on fire right now," said Sinclair after the victory over Great Britain. "But we know them very well and we deserve to be there."

There is no doubt the marquee match-up in this fixture is going to be Sinclair against American striker Abby Wambach. The pair enters the game as the second and third highest scoring female soccer players of all-time with Wambach holding a two goal advantage.

Herdman believes his striker is one of the best in the world.

"Christine for me is like a Rolls Royce," said Herdman. "She just floats around the pitch and everything about her is class. Abby is a bit of everything really. I can't compare her to a car because I don't know her well enough and the scary thing is she's got a Ferrari (Alex Morgan) alongside her."

While everyone expected the top level performance that the Canadian's have received from Sinclair at London 2012, forward Melissa Tancredi has also provided huge goals that have helped Canada progress this far in the tournament.

The Ancaster, Ont., native is currently the tournament's joint top scorer, with Wambach, on four goals.

Her two biggest of the competition were scored in the comeback draw against Sweden in the final round robin game that helped Canada qualify for the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, the Americans enter the game on an incredible roll. After falling behind 2-0, 14 minutes into their opening game against France, the defending champions have not conceded a goal.

They came back to claim a 4-2 victory against France before steamrolling Colombia, North Korea and New Zealand to earn their place in the semi-finals.

Despite the roll her team has been on not just at London 2012 but over the last two Olympic Games, USA's head coach Pia Sundhage is not worried about her team taking opponents lightly.

"The fact that this team has been so successful means we are able to cope with the pressure and expectation and use it in a positive way," said Sundhage. "If you look back then you gain confidence and if you dream about the future, you will be happy."

Wambach will be the focus of the American attack when they take the field against Canada, but she knows that Sinclair will be a handful for her team's defence.

"I think Christine Sinclair is one of the most underrated soccer players on the planet. I think that getting to the semis of the Olympic Games is validation for her and what she has been able to do for her country over the past decade," she said. "But this is not about Abby versus Christine; this is about the United States against Canada. We want to show that our defence is able to cope with one of the best strikers in the world. If we can shut down Sinclair, I think we'll have a good day (Monday)."

United States has won gold at three of the four Olympic Games where women's soccer has been a medal sport, failing only at Sydney 2000 to earn the championship. They picked up the silver medal in that tournament.

Canada has not won a medal in a traditional summer team sport since earning silver in basketball at the Berlin 1936 Games. If the women's soccer team is going to earn a place in the gold medal game they are going to have to overturn a heavy dose of history.

Canadian midfielder Kaylyn Kyle is ready to take a shot at exactly that,

"They're a great team; they're the best in the world for a reason," said Kyle referencing the USA match-up after the victory over Great Britain. "Our track record isn't great against them but what better time to change that?"