Time running short for Alphonso Davies to leave his mark on Canada’s World Cup

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For most of the Canadians wearing his shirt these last couple of weeks, Alphonso Davies is more of an idea than a lived experience.

They will know him from his TV commercials, or maybe social media. They must have caught a couple of his Canadian team highlights – the country’s first-ever World Cup goal in 2022, the wild half-field effort against Panama in a qualifier in Toronto.

I’m guessing the majority do not know him from his day job (unless they’re leaping from bed on Saturday mornings to catch Bayern Munich vs. Eintracht Frankfurt) or his deep thoughts, few of which he shares. He’s not a regular part of any local’s sports diet.

As a result, Davies isn’t a Canadian sporting icon. He is the potential for one. Now would be a good time to transition from the former to the latter, since it might be Davies’ last opportunity to do so.

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Whether or not Davies is actually anywhere close to healthy has been the undercurrent of Canada’s World Cup to this point. Head coach Jesse Marsch has said he’s been purposely deceptive about it.

On Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s first knockout game against South Africa, a definitive answer was provided.

“He is more than ready for tomorrow,” Marsch said, while Davies sat alongside him.

Then it got less definitive. A German asked if Davies would be starting. Not a ridiculous question, since ‘full steam ahead’ had been the tone of remarks from both men.

“Start?!” Davies said, smirking.

Marsch sat up in alarm.

“I’m not confirming any minutes, starts, subs. He’s available to play tomorrow.”

The nation must continue to live in hope, I guess.

So, presumably, does Davies. His opportunities to make a major impression on the international scene are growing more limited. Though only 25, he may already be on the decline. Davies is becoming that tragic soccer type – the would-be legend who couldn’t stay healthy long enough to prove it.

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Last week, Bayern hired his younger, fitter, more German replacement, Nathaniel Brown. According to TransferMarkt, Davies’ value on the open market is half what it once was.

Wherever Davies ends up playing professionally, it’s not clear how much longer he is capable of being an automatic starter. One wonders how much his job is on his mind while he’s here working on his side hustle.

Davies is with the team, but until Saturday, he’d been largely absent. Before games, he can be seen doing light warm-ups with a staffer, and that’s about it. Saturday’s availability was his first time fielding questions from the floor since the tournament began.

That, topped with all the obfuscation, hasn’t created an atmosphere of mystery the Canadian soccer set-up seems to think it has. It’s more a light fog of panic.

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On any other team, one would say Davies absolutely does play at some point tomorrow. But on this one? Who knows? And what then if Canada were eliminated? What would Davies’ Canadian sporting legacy be?

Aside from the goal in Qatar (which was scored at the beginning of a comprehensive defeat), Davies’ biggest moment is now 10 years past. That’s when he picked Canada in the first place.

He had other options. If he’d been cunning about it, Davies could’ve waited to see which European league he ended up in, and tried nationalizing for their team.

But Davies chose us. In so doing, he transformed the national program. If the Michael Jordan of your country joins the national basketball team, what’s everybody else’s excuse? All of a sudden, playing for Canada was no longer seen as the hardship duty it had been for a generation. It was a chance to jump on with a kid who was going to be one of the best in the world.

For that alone, Davies has earned his spot on the mountain top of Canadian sport. Along with stars in other sports like Steve Nash and Milos Raonic, he gave Canada credibility.

But the actual soccer part of his Canadian story has been a little thin. Davies was played out of position in Qatar, and struggled for long stretches. Despite being the team’s biggest get, Davies only decided to take hard questions after the team had been eliminated.

No athlete owes the media anything, but Lionel Messi does this duty, and often. Same with Cristiano Ronaldo and on down the Q-rating depth chart. It is strange that when you think of an athlete, the first thing that pops into your head is a BMO ad. But that’s where Davies is at.

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This World Cup was going to take care of all of that. Gifted a gimme group, Davies could run wild in the opening round. By this point, he’d be a global talking point. Except none of that happened.

In what one presumes is an effort to shield Davies from scrutiny, Marsch has only increased it. When asked if Davies would play, what was wrong with saying, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘We’ll see’? Now the pressure for Davies to make an immediate and immense impact has intensified.

If Davies doesn’t play here or does so only briefly, four years from now is a long time to wait for his next chance. It’s an especially long time for a player who is coming slowly apart from the waist down. If Davies does appear in the 2030 World Cup, he is unlikely to have top billing. You also can’t take for granted that Canada will qualify.

So even if the game against South Africa isn’t it for Canada at this tournament, Davies might be best thinking of it that way.

At the least, it would be nice to remember him on the field, doing the thing that prompted people to buy his jersey. Not appearing at the breaks, trying to talk you into switching your savings account.