Davies is already a win for Canadian soccer
Germany’s Bayern Munich scoops up talented Whitecaps teenager
In many ways, Alphonso Davies was a win for Canada soccer before news of a Major League Soccer-record transfer to one of the world’s top clubs.
Born to Liberian parents in a Ghana refugee camp, the 17-year-old Davies had options when it came to international football. Unlike Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves (England), Toronto-born Jonathan de Guzman (the Netherlands) and Yugoslavia-born, Edmonton-raised Asmir Begovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Davies chose to play for 79th-ranked Canada.
Now Davies can carry the Maple Leaf in the colours of Bayern Munich or another club if the German powerhouse opts to send him out on loan to get playing time once he leaves the Vancouver Whitecaps after the 2018 season.
He is eligible to play for Bayern Munich when the international transfer window reopens in January.
Davies’ skills will serve Canada well on the playing field. But perhaps his biggest boon will be as a Canadian on the world stage.
Davies has the opportunity to join past and present athletes like Donovan Bailey, Andre De Grasse, Brooke Henderson, Ferguson Jenkins, Nancy Greene, Steve Nash, Steve Podborski, Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, Georges St-Pierre, Jacques Villeneuve and Mike Weir as Canadians who have put or are in the process of putting their stamp on their sport.
“It’s the beginning of a dream that he deserves and he’s fought for,” said former Canadian captain Julian de Guzman, Jonathan’s older brother.
The Canadian Soccer Association did its bit to make Davies the face of Canadian soccer when it chose him to tell his story before the FIFA Congress in June as part of the North American joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup.
“It was a hard life,” said Davies, detailing his hardscrabble beginnings. “But when I was five years old, a country called Canada welcomed us in. … Today, I’m 17 years old and I play for the (Canadian) men’s national team. And I’m a proud Canadian citizen.”
The attacking midfielder can serve as a beacon for Canadian soccer players young and old. He is already a godsend for Canada coach John Herdman, the 10th man in charge of the national team since Davies was born.
The teen’s profile is key for Canadian soccer. Sponsors love a star attraction. Davies is a tonic for a program that has had trouble in the past finding a TV home for its games. Should Davies’ star continues rising, he will keep soccer on the front pages.
While the teenager’s soccer journey is only beginning, he has already skipped several steps.
Most Canadian players face obstacles just opening the door to Europe. And when they do go, they traditionally climb the soccer ladder slowly.
Atiba Hutchinson, for example, built his career carefully starting in Scandinavia with Osters and Helsingborg in Sweden and FC Copenhagen in Denmark.
The midfielder joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in 2010 before moving to Turkey’s Besiktas in 2013. Today his home is the sparkling 41,900-capacity Vodafone Arena in Istanbul and he is a Champions League veteran (Besiktas was thumped
8-1 by Bayern on aggregate in the tournament’s round of 16 in March).
Nineteen when he debuted for Canada, the 35-year-old Hutchinson has now won 78 caps and served as national team captain.
Rob Friend also worked his way up. Originally drafted by the Chicago Fire in 2003, he opted to sign with Moss FK and then Molde FK in Norway. The six-footfive forward spent a year with SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands before embarking on a successful stretch in Germany.
Friend signed with Borussia Moenchengladbach for the 2007 season, scoring 18 goals to help the team earn promotion to Germany’s top flight. He scored 28 goals in his three seasons with the storied club before moving on to Hertha BSC, Eintracht Frankfurt and TSV 1860 Munchen.
He moved to MLS and the Los Angeles Galaxy before concussion-related problems cut his career short in 2014.
Julian de Guzman was 15 when he went to Europe where a two-week tryout with Marseille led to an amateur contract. The early years were difficult and the French club eventually cut him loose, telling him to go home because “Canadians are not good enough to make it in Europe.”
Germany’s FC Saarbrucken saw it differently. He saw Bundesliga action with Hannover 96 before a successful stint in Spain with Deportivo de La Coruna. The Canada captain went on to play in Greece and Spain as well as the MLS and today is GM of the USL’s Ottawa Fury FC.
Former Canada captain Paul Stalteri played one year on a soccer scholarship at Clemson University before returning home and joining the Toronto Lynx.
After being noticed by a scout from Werder Bremen, he joined the German team in 1997.
He made his first team debut in 2000 against Cottbus and Kevin McKenna, a future Canadian captain himself. They were the first Canadians to play in the top German league. Stalteri scored in the game and went on to win the Bundesliga and German Cup in 2003-04 with Bremen. At the end of the 2004-05 season, he signed a four-year contract with England’s Tottenham, eventually moving to Fulham on loan before returning to Germany and Moenchengladbach.
McKenna played for Cottbus and Scotland’s Hearts before finding a home back in Germany with FC Koln.
While such Canadians have made their mark in Europe, it remains a sink-or-swim scenario.
“To be in the Bundesliga it’s a major challenge, it’s a major test for the young professional,” said de Guzman.
“It’s very demanding,” he added. “And I can tell you a lot of Canadians who have been there never made it ... If you could overcome the mentality and the culture and be a part of it in Germany, then you could really become a part of any culture in the soccer world. It’s one of the hardest culture to be a part of at a professional level and it really does take the best — not just on the skill side of things for a player but more psychologically.”