Former player creating controversy

TEAM CANADA: Latham, now a TV analyst, makes it seem like benched Moscato is complaining

Christine Latham last played for Canada in July, 2006, but scored a heck of an own goal for the red and white this week.

Latham, who had 49 caps for Canada and was a starter at the 2003 Women’s World Cup, is an analyst for Fox Sports for this tournament.

It took a day or two for her pregame comments from the Canada-Switzerland clash to make the rounds on Twitter. But by Tuesday, most hardcore Canadian fans had heard, or read, about her throwing veteran centre back Carmelina Moscato under the bus.

Asked about Canada’s morale, Latham said: “When I talked to Carmelina Moscato, it’s not good.”

Latham went on to say: “She also expressed concern about the starting 11 that are on the field, noting that it’s disappointing every day when they’re in practice and these players aren’t performing because of injury and they’re starting.”

Now, I know Moscato pretty well. No matter what she’s feeling — and who would be happy on the bench? — she’d never want to air that publicly. If anything, she’s guilty here of being far too trusting, especially during a World Cup run.

And that’s if we take Latham’s account as accurate.

People close to Moscato paint Latham’s words as more of a fabrication.

Latham has a job to do, of course, and thank goodness there are people who have played the game talking on our televisions and not cheerleading.

But what she possibly had to gain by using Moscato’s name is beyond comprehension. It’s also very poor ethics. Regardless, Canada has its first controversy at this Women’s World Cup, so I guess they have truly arrived.

Moscato, 31, would have been in the conversation this week anyway because of Lauren Sesselmann’s struggles against the Swiss.

Should John Herdman — whom Latham says has “mismanaged” his team and “made a lot of desperate lineup changes” — look to Moscato or Crofton’s Emily Zurrer at centre back against England in Saturday’s quarter-final?

Sesselmann is clearly not back to form after an ACL tear and one would imagine — Latham’s comments aside — that Moscato believes she can do a job for Canada.

Here’s one counter-argument: Sesselmann’s left-footed and that allows the dominant Kadeisha Buchanan to play on her comfortable side. Buchanan might be the best player in this tournament, so why mess with that?

No question, Herdman has a big decision to make at centre back ahead of the England game.

And now you have to wonder if this Moscato kerfuffle will play into it.