Alphonso Davies’ incredibly journey from refugee to Canadian national team star and now German and European champion is complete as of Sunday in Portugal.
The 19-year-old Canadian born to Liberian parents in a Ghanaian refugee camp was playing for Vancouver Whitecaps in 2018 and 20 months later his influential season for Bayern Munich led to Thomas Muller calling him the Roadrunner.
[ MORE: Davies’ timeline from MLS debut to UCL winner ]
He was asked if he had any words from his fans back in Canada.
Davies spoke more in a second interview:
“My story is one I want to inspire people of,” Davies adds. “It shows that you can do anything you set your mind to. I am happy to be here with the Champions League medal around my neck and the trophy on the side. ... We know legends won this title before so as a young kid coming in you want to keep that going. Every young player at this club is hungry to win titles because they see their idols doing it.”
[ MORE: Player ratings | Watch Bayern lift the European Cup ]
Davies has been an instrumental part of Bayern’s rise, becoming a left back this year while breaking into the first team. He played all 81 of his MLS matches as a winger and five of his six appearances for Bayern in 2019 came at the wing.
One of those was at left back, and he was again a wing until late September. Despite a disappointing individual day on Sunday, he’s been one of the influential pieces of a treble (Bundesliga title, German Cup, European Cup).
Less than one year later, he’s a Champions League-winning left back.
[ MORE: Match recap | JPW’s Three Things ]
"Dreams do come true..."
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) August 23, 2020
Congratulations to the only Canadian man and youngest defender to ever win a @ChampionsLeague title. pic.twitter.com/6PgqESjDuH