19 hours ago
7
Beat South Africa
©IMAGO
LOS ANGELES -- It was the 55th minute when Alphonso Davies finally came out to start his warm-up as his country struggled to break down South Africa’s defence in front of 69,237 spectators at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Canada would win the game 1-0, but Davies would remain the main story here. The Bayern Munich left-back had missed the first four games for Canada at the World Cup. A niggling injury had kept him out of the lineup and had been hotly debated across the country. Many thought the moment had come against Switzerland. Ahead of Canada’s 2-1 defeat, Jesse Marsch insisted that Davies was available to play. But after the match, Marsch revealed it was all a decoy.
As a result, there was skepticism ahead of Canada’s first-ever knockout-stage match in World Cup history when Marsch said: "I am not confirming any minutes, starts, etc. He is available to play tomorrow.” Marsch's statement, however, was preceded by Davies muttering in disbelief: “Start?!” That single word meant there was once again doubt about whether Davies was ready at all to play in this World Cup. In fact, was the entire thing another decoy by Marsch?
It certainly felt that way until Davies came out to warm up at the beginning of the second half. It was a moment of hope in an otherwise poor match between Canada and South Africa. Both played their first-ever knockout match at a World Cup, and it showed. “We just stuck to our game plan,” Alistair Johnston said. “It doesn’t matter who you play in the knockout stage. Nobody will roll over for you.” It was a poor match, Johnston admitted. “The game didn’t have a ton of flow to it.” According to the brilliant Futi app, South Africa had a match rating of 28 out of 100 and Canada a match rating of 73 out of 100.
Alphonso Davies returns – But Stephen Eustaquio the hero for Canada
Would Davies have come on if Canada were in a better position? We will never find out. Because with his national team struggling, Canada’s captain finally arrived at the World Cup in the 75th minute, coming on for Tajon Buchanan; the Villarreal winger had a poor game before being substituted. Indeed, it was a poor game by all the players on the field, and it felt like the match would go into extra time and perhaps penalties. According to Futi, Davies had a match score of 50, completing 13 out of 18 passes, one out of three take-ons and had two progressive carries. The eye test suggested a player who seemed reluctant to sprint and avoided physical challenges.
Still, Marsch was happy to have Davies back and Moïse Bombito starting. “Now that we have Alphonso and Moïse closer and closer to 100%, we can give ourselves a chance, right?” Marsch said. “We can give ourselves a chance against some big opponents, and that's exactly what our focus is going to be for the next match.” Whether his presence made a difference is up for debate. But coming off the bench is a sign of life from Canada’s biggest soccer star. The occasion was even big enough for Davies to briefly stop for the media post-game. “It was a tough game,” Davies said. “With a lot of intensity and pace, but seeing the ball hit the back of the net and celebrate with the team was something else; it was amazing.” What did it feel like to be back on the pitch? “It meant so much,” Davies said. “I was itching to get back onto the pitch and be able to have those 15 minutes on the pitch. It felt great.” Of course, we had more questions, but as is often the case, Davies cut short his media availability, walking away with a polite smile.
The hero was someone else anyhow. Deep in stoppage time, Stephen Eustaquio seemed to have had enough of the proceedings. The LAFC midfielder received a ball outside the box, and his well-placed shot was unstoppable for goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. “When I shot, I felt everyone in the team shot the ball with me,” Eustaquio said about the first-ever goal scored by a Canadian in a World Cup knockout stage match. “We need to be humble. We must recover well. In six days, we must play a very tough team.” Up next for Canada will be the winner of the Morocco-Netherlands match. Both teams are among the favourites to win the tournament. It will be a real test, and while today’s moment is historic, the focus will remain on Davies and whether he will be fit enough to face some of the best players in the world when Canada face them in Houston on American Independence Day.
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