INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Alphonso Davies has dreamed about the moment at hand, the one that will arrive on Sunday at spectacular SoFi Stadium with all the world watching. He dreamed of it eight years ago when as a 17-year-old, he made a speech as part of the Canadian contingent in Russia lobbying for the country to be a host of the 2026 World Cup. He has dreamed of the type of reaction Canadian fans showed in Toronto and Vancouver in the first three matches of this tournament, remembering the moments when stadiums full of Canadian fans was a foreign concept.
Now the captain has the opportunity to help propel it to a beyond dreaming stratosphere when he makes his debut in this his second World Cup on Sunday in a Round of 32 meeting with South Africa. That is if his defiant coach, Jesse Marsch, has dropped his silly decoy act and that the deception that has tailed the greatest player the country has ever developed is mercifully over and his injured hamstring is back at its explosive best.
Davies' Recovery and Road to Return
“Obviously it was painful,” Davies said on Saturday, sitting at a podium not far from the pitch that his team has an opportunity to elevate a good World Cup into a terrific one. “The only thing you want to do is play football. That’s what I’m very passionate about. The first game, watching it, I was eager to get on the pitch. Second game, even more so. And obviously the third game, I went to (Marsch) and asked him before the game if I could get a couple of minutes.”
If Davies sounds like a thoroughbred ready to burst out of the gate, how tantalizing that for a country that has a chance to prove itself like never before as a developing football nation? Marsch certainly believes so, though he couldn’t help himself again on Saturday, refusing to declare whether Davies will start or be a substitute. Don’t want to feed the South Africans, after all.
What Difference Could Davies Make?
Given his world-class pedigree and his performances in massive games for his German club team, Bayern Munich, Davies fits whatever your definition of game-changer might be. On Saturday, Marsch talked about his “dynamic qualities” and his singular ability to dictate the pace of the game. But the coach also evoked the soundtrack of Canadian men’s Olympic hockey coach, Jon Cooper, when he spoke of captain Sidney Crosby’s influence in Milan this past winter.
“Even more (than the talent), what I’ve said to him is the effect that he will have on the team, being on the pitch, the belief they have in him,” Marsch said. “I think it changes the possibility of what the potentially of our team is and what we can do in this tournament.”
And with that, Marsch hinted at his master plan. “The whole idea was can we get stronger as the tournament goes on and as the opponents start to get tougher and tougher, the moments bigger and bigger,” the coach said. “How can we have our best players available? And how can we be ready to perform at our best? That’s where we are right now.”
Why the Davies Deception?
Marsch claimed on Saturday that he approached Davies and essentially asked him if he would be a part of his elaborate ruse. The captain effectively rolled his eyes at that one, but apparently played along. “We were fairly certain early on that playing in the group phase was unlikely, and then I said to him, ‘What if we use you as a decoy?'” Marsch said. “He looked like he looks at me a lot of times like (I) sound crazy. It was just trying to gain any advantage that we could with opponents.”
It’s not like any coach and technical crew of competence wouldn’t be prepared for a Canada with Davies in the lineup and one without, so it was an interesting strategy/distraction, to say the least. As for the recovery, Marsch said Canadian officials wanted to do everything to ensure that the best version of Davies is the first one to appear in this World Cup.
“Especially with the highest-level athletes, you have to treat them like they’re Ferraris,” Marsch said. “You really have to make sure they are hitting all the (recovery) benchmarks before you let them really go and be free.”
Who Is Calling the Shots?
It has been obvious from the outset of this elongated recovery from Davies’ most recent hamstring injury, that Bayern Munich has been involved. On Saturday, both player and coach talked about the influence of his personal trainer, Matthias Blankenburg, who has been overseeing his recovery.
“At the beginning, Canada and Bayern, we sat down together and we made a plan of how it’s going to look over the (first) few weeks of the tournament and I think we’re executing that perfectly,” Davies said. “It’s only been good communication from both sides. And open communication.”
Added Marsch: “When Alfonso had mentioned that he wanted to bring a personal trainer to help in his rehabilitation, I was fully supportive of it. I think it’s really important, especially when you’re the level of athlete that that Alfonso is, having somebody who knows specifically what the demands of your body are.”
