In March of 2025, Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies traveled to Los Angeles for a game with Canada and subsequently suffered an ACL tear that would alter the trajectory of his career (hopefully temporarily).
For Canada’s knockout round game vs. South Africa, Davies returns to the stadium where he suffered the injury.
“It could have happened anywhere. Coming back to the stadium, I get to finish something I started a year ago in March. I really enjoy playing in this stadium. The first time, it was beautiful.
It was cut short, but that happens. It’s football,” said Davies (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
For Davies, this World Cup has been a tough go. The Bayern Munich left-back has not played, which has been brutal for him to experience.
“Obviously, it was painful [to watch the first three games from the sidelines]. The only thing you want to do is play football. That’s what I’m really passionate about. The first game, watching it, I was eager to be on the pitch. Second game, even more so. The third game, I went to the coach before the game and asked him, ‘Do you think I can get a couple of minutes?’ He could have said, ‘Yeah, we’ll just throw you in there,’ but obviously he cares about me and the team as human beings as well, so he sat me down…and I thought about it, and I said, ‘He’s right.’ It was kind of hard to hear,” Davies said.
The Canadian star is expected to be ready (where have we heard this before?) to face South Africa.
“We were fairly certain early on that playing in the group phase was unlikely. For me to go tell our best player, and a guy that is a huge piece of everything that we do, that we have to wait, was painful. But we’ve done this in the best interests of Alphonso and his career and his health, so it’s nice now that we can have a plan that leads to him being back on the pitch,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch said. “Now he’s truly available. We have Alphonso back and healthy and ready to perform, I think it’s a big moment for the team and a big boost for the team. He’s a big X factor for us. Being on the pitch, the belief they have in him, the belief he has in himself, I think changes the possibility of what the potential of our team is, and what we can do in this tournament.”
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