The kid from Edmonton has become an international celebrity. Our readers already pegged him as the most famous person to ever come out of this city. He’s won the Bundesliga and Champions League trophies with Bayern Munich, one of the world’s most-followed sports teams.
And, on Thursday, in one of the least surprising development of 2020, Alphonso Davies was named Canada Soccer’s male player of the year. This was about as automatic as Wayne Gretzky winning Hart Trophies throughout the 1980s.
Davies, who is recovering from an ankle-ligament injury he suffered in October, spoke with Canadian media via Zoom.
Despite all of trophies won in 2020, there is a bittersweet part to Davies’s story. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, he hasn’t been able to visit Edmonton to celebrate with his family or friends. His interactions with all things Edmonton have been limited to FaceTime for the better part of a year. After Bayern won the Champions League, he jokingly sent a tweet to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking if there was any way he could get home to Edmonton for just a week; that came after the PM had congratulated Davies for winning one of the biggest trophies in sport.
“I hope I can come back soon, to see the people who have been supporting me, to see my family.”
As for the injury, he said he’s been working every day, at the ground at 8:30 a.m., training by 9 a.m., to get to the point where he’ll soon be ready for Bayern manager Hansi Flick to bring back into the rotation.
When he rolled the ankle in a game against Eintracht Frankfurt, he didn’t think the injury was that bad.
“I remember that I just heard three clicks in my knee, in my ankle … I had to fight. I cannot be disappointed. I cannot be sad.”
But, when he does get back to Edmonton, he promises he won’t be coming back a man who has been changed by international fame.
“Getting more eyes on me doesn’t change my perspective.”
