AL-RAYYAN, Qatar — For two weeks, the state of Alphonso Davies’ hamstring has been the biggest issue around the Canadian national team camp, the health of their most talented player looming over their first men’s World Cup since 1986.
If you take the words of Canada head coach John Herdman at face value, the Bayern Munich superstar is ready and raring to go for their Qatar 2022 opener vs. Belgium at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on Wednesday despite the strain he picked up in club play on Nov. 5.
“Fonzie’s fit now. He’s hit his markers. He’s ready to go,” said Herdman, who was initially cagey about his fleet-footed wide man to start of his pre-match press conference only to later effectively confirm Davies’ own enthusiastic proclamations of fitness the previous day. “He was flying in training yesterday, enjoying himself. Canada, we’re in a position now where we can field our strongest team. Everyone’s came through well.”
Herdman added that goalkeeper Milan Borjan has worked through an abdominal issue and should be ready to start.
“It’s exciting times for us now, the dark clouds have shifted and this will be our last training session together where we’ll be all 100%,” said the English coach, after explaining the tenuous wait for Davies to pass the performance staff’s benchmarks.
“I don’t think there was any doubt we’d be starting him. But you’ve got to follow the medical advice. I mean, that’s always part of this,” said Herdman. “Our goal first and foremost is always the safety of the players, that’s paramount, so we’ve had to manage that process.
“I think as a coach, you’re always sitting frustrated when you get the reports in and all the algorithms on return to play and what they can and can’t do and their loadings, etc. But when you speak to the player, you have to be able to look into their eyes and get a sense of what they want and how far they’re willing to push. And you’ve got to ask the questions: first game, what’s the risk? What’s the second game risk?
“We’ve all been willing for him to be ready to go. He’s just starting to hit his top speed, that last sort of full-on sprint. And I think positive psychology always helps injuries heal a little bit quicker. So yeah, I mean, it was good. He’s clear that he wanted to play, I think our medical team, we wanted him to play as well. but you’ve just got to go through the mathematical algorithms that they put in front of you, progress him to top speed, and he hit that.”
‘We don’t have a great amount to lose’
If Herdman holds to his word and gives a start to Davies, the standard-bearer of Les Rouges‘ dramatic resurgence on both the regional and global soccer scenes, it’s the best news imaginable for Canada supporters, especially considering Belgium’s talent-laden squad.
In one sense, anything they can conjure up from here on out is a bonus for Canada. Herdman vowed that his team would play without pressure — “we don’t have a great amount of lose, just a genuine opportunity to make it our cup final” — and veteran captain Atiba Hutchinson spoke of the transformative effect their run to the tournament has already had back home.
“I’ve already seen it sparking a lot of interest in younger players, seven-, eight-year-olds, some in my family, teammates, children and just the interest that it’s brought to our country is really special to see. I’ve been with the national team a very long time and I’ve never seen it get to this level. So it’s great to see and I think it’s going to continue to get bigger and bigger from here on out,” said the 39-year-old, who plays for Turkish power Beşiktaş.
“We’ve got a very strong team with a lot of good players. And we’re going to just do what we’ve been doing. It’s going to be a battle in every game we play. We’re going to fight, we’re going to show our brotherhood. We want to put Canada on the map. So our intention is just to enjoy the moment. We’ve worked a very long time to get here.”
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