Teen star Davies dazzles in final game for Whitecaps
VANCOUVER — Alphonso Davies said he got the “perfect ending” to his Major League Soccer career on Sunday.
The 17-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder scored a pair of highlight reel-worthy goals in his team’s 2-1 home win over the Portland Timbers.
“Coming in this game, knowing it’s my last game for Vancouver, I just wanted to leave with a positive feeling,” he said.
The ’Caps (13-13-8) are out of the playoffs, so the victory marked the team’s final game of the season.
It was Davies’ final match with the club after the Whitecaps reached a record-breaking $22-million US transfer deal with soccer giant Bayern Munich in July that will see him play for the German team through 2023.
Andres Flores scored for the Timbers (15-10-9) in the 90th minute. It was his first goal of the year.
Davies’ goals were his seventh and eighth of the season. He also had 11 assists.
Davies was born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled the Liberian civil war. His family immigrated to Canada, eventually settling in Edmonton.
There he was discovered by the Whitecaps’ recruiting staff. He joined the club’s residency program in 2015 and steadily worked his way up to the MLS squad, with his league debut coming in July 2016.
Davies’ family was on hand to watch his final match in Vancouver on Sunday. His parents offered congratulations and told him they were proud when he left the field. Cameras also caught his mom trying to show some affection.
“As you can see, my mom tried to pick me up,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m a big boy now.
I’m not a little baby any more.”
Messages of thanks and encouragement were broadcast across the big screen throughout the game. They came from Davies’ teammates on the Whitecaps and the Canadian men’s soccer teams, and from other athletes, including Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid.
The crowd of 25,348 also rose and gave the young man a standing ovation in the 67th minute, a nod to his jersey number, 67.
On the field, his teammates made a concerted effort to put the ball at his feet and give him an opportunity to realize his season-long goal of netting a hat trick. That showcased how supportive the team has been throughout his career, Davies said.
“The team is an amazing team,” he said. “And playing my final games here, they just wanted to get me the ball as much as possible and let me do what I do. And I couldn’t thank them more for pushing me every day in training and also off the field as well.”