Canada ponder what to do with legend Christine Sinclair

Christine Sinclair has done plenty of speaking over the past 12 months, far more than she’d have liked. So when the captain departed Canada’s World Cup opener without talking to the media she could have been forgiven. Yet the questions remain.

The mixed zone Sinclair stared straight ahead through after Friday’s wholly underwhelming 0-0 draw with Nigeria was in Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium. The venue’s name felt particularly ironic once the final whistle sounded, given that Canada had looked completely devoid of anything resembling an identifiable shape.

The reigning Olympic champions, the highest-ranked team in Group B, a side with so many of its key players arriving Down Under in their prime, Bev Priestman’s Canada had been vocal about their aims for this World Cup — winning the whole damn thing. Yet the result, and especially the performance, against Nigeria were in keeping with recent trends for a team that is ranked the seventh best in the world but is stuttering.

It could have been so different had Sinclair, the greatest goalscorer in women’s and men’s international football history, converted a second-half penalty. But the captain’s miss, having never looked confident and had neither the power nor placement required, was also in keeping with more personalised trends for one of the most beloved athletes in these parts.

The fact of the matter is Canada flew into Perth on Monday afternoon with plenty of quandaries swirling overhead, some issues more long-standing, some fresh. But one of the most vexing questions centres on the skipper.

Sinclair’s place in the highest peaks of the Canadian sporting landscape is already assured. Her goalscoring exploits and particularly her performances on the Olympic stage, where