BIOGRAPHY
glory. Football is total fun for him. Even
in the tensest of moments, he always
seems to be enjoying himself, operating
with inexhaustible, almost childlike
enthusiasm.
He does not solely gets his kicks from
the offensive part of his duties: the
explosive forward runs, mesmerising
dribbling routines and sheer creative
persistence. Since Bayern switched
him from a flying winger to full-back in
the spring of 2019, he clearly derives
as much pleasure from defending.
Whether covering, tackling or making
a last-ditch block, he puts his heart
and soul into it.
His mentality is exactly what Bayern
tend to look for in a player. Immune to
complacency, committed to the core
and always prepared to go those extra
miles for the win. Add in his dexterity
on the ball and impressive physique,
you have the full package. Even before
he nailed a down a permanent spot in
the Bayern first team, club director of
sport Hasan Salihamidzic was singling
him out as one to watch: “Phonzie is a
machine. We like him because there’s
no vanity in his game. He simply does
what he has to do.”
Salihamidzic’s work as Bayern’s head
of recruitment has not always met the
universal approval of fans and local
media. But he undeniably got his sums
right when bringing in Davies, beatingrelishing the chance to prove himself in
one-on-ones.
He loves to impose himself in such
duels. It’s a primal instinct with him, anurge he showcased at all his Canadian
staging posts: at school in Edmonton, on
the Free Footie programme, in his early
teens in the blue-and-white stripes of
the Edmonton Strikers, then as a boy
wonder in MLS with the Whitecaps.
From the earliest of ages, it was
as clear as day he was born to be a
sportsman. Tim Adams, the former
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
journalist who set up Free Footie,
says he was instantly bowled over
by Alphonso’s rare mix of technique,
agility and intelligence, that even at
the tender age of11, he radiated
huge amounts of promise.
Melissa Guzzo, his gym teacher at
the Mother Teresa School, noticed his
aptitude for games too, as well as his
upbeat bubbly personality. “Our little
Alphonso was one of those kids with
a permanent smile on his face, he was
always dancing in the hallways,” she toldthe likes of Manchester United, PSG
and Barcelona to the tyro’s signature.
As usual, Bayern did their homework,
offering the most comprehensive
and persuasive career
plan.
Whereas successive
Bayern coaches, Niko
Kovac and Hansi Flick
deserve much credit
for successfully using
him as a raiding
left-back, it has to be noted that Davies
was anything but inexperienced in that
role. He had played there several times
for Vancouver Whitecaps, frequently
lined up as such for Canada and took
up the same position in the 2018 MLS
All-Star game againstJuventus.
Canada’s English-born coachJohn
Herdman believes he and his staff
should take some of the credit for
Davies’ development into a stunning
left-back: “We started that process,” he
recently explained on the Canadian
football podcastA Kick in the Grass.
“Against certain types of teams who sit
deep, Phonzie can provide us with great
support from deep positions. He’s
probably played 60 per cent of his
national team games as a full-back.”
Alphonso’s attitude to the game is as
simple and unvarnished as it was when
he was a kid. Essentially, he is the same
footballer-athlete that he always was,Only one full season as a Bayern starter and
already elevated to the rank of superstar.
Not bad for a teenager who was born and
raised in a refugee camp in GhanaFresh faced...
Celebrating his
first MLS goal