(Munich, Germany) At 21, Alphonso Davies is about to play the most important season of his young career. With his club, Bayern Munich, “Fonzy” sees big and his ambitions are limitless, like a club used to winning at least one trophy each season.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
He first aims for a new title of German champion, which would be the 11e consecutive for the Bavarians, and his fourth staff. The Canadian international also made the DFB-Pokal – the German Cup – a goal, a year after a surprising elimination in the round of 16 in Mönchengladbach with a scathing 0-5 at the key.
But it is especially in the Champions League that he would like to shine and return to the front of the stage in the most prestigious of soccer club competitions. Eliminated in the quarter-finals by the modest Spanish team of Villareal in the spring, the most successful German club is aiming for the continental Grail on June 10, 2023 in Istanbul.
“When you are under contract at Bayern Munich, only the victory counts,” he said during a press briefing two weeks ago in Munich.
This state of mind can be felt everywhere and at all times at the training centre. This season, we still have a formidable team in all areas of the game which should allow us to go very far. I am very optimistic.
Alphonso Davies
Going into the new season, Davies’ form looks promising. Author of a good preparation during a week-long tour in Washington and Green Bay, in the United States, where he was the most sought-after Munich player by the local media, he is undeniably growing in power, as his successful performance attests to this when the championship resumed in Frankfurt (6-1) last Friday.
He will have been absent for almost four months (from January to April) due to inflammation of the heart muscle following his COVID-19 contracted at the end of January. That’s why he now prioritizes his health.
“I lived through a complicated period with this health glitch, added the former Vancouver Whitecaps. The hardest thing is that the doctors told me that I would have it for a long time without being able to give me a precise date, which greatly worried me. I even had doubts about whether I could ever play again. Today, I am relieved and happy to be able to practice my profession again. »
PHOTO MATTHIAS SCHRADER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alphonso Davies and Bayern Munich faced Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.
Busy schedule
Now he hopes his body will leave him in peace so he can play games every three days this fall, with a very busy schedule on the program. A sign of its importance within the imposing German workforce: Bayern officials let Englishman Omar Richards leave this summer for Nottingham Forest.
Which means Davies is the only left-back in the group, although France international Lucas Hernandez can help out if Davies is absent. It is a position where there is no competition, proof of the untouchable status of the Canadian at Bayern.
“I feel good at this club,” continued Davies. As a player, everything is there to flourish. At the level of the game, we take a lot of pleasure and we still have a lot of appetite, even if we won the last ten championships. We now want the eleventh. Our desire to win is still as strong. »
In Munich, he enjoys enormous popularity. Bayern’s Champions League elimination against Villareal in April has, for many observers, been linked to Fonzy’s late return, and his side’s disappointing performance in the first six months of 2022, to his long absence .
For former Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who left the club a year ago to enjoy a peaceful retirement, “Fonzy is a phenomenon. The former German soccer star in the 1980s remembers the arrival of the Canadian in southern Germany.
PHOTO MARTIN MEISSNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, former president of Bayern Munich
“Our recruitment unit fought hard to be able to recruit him, knowing that we had a lot of competition. We wanted it at all costs. We had quickly discovered its enormous potential. He is one of the best in the world in his position. In my eyes, he is even number one. I do not know a player who is as fast as him. He is explosive, technically strong and has a big mind. He is a player who has quickly become indispensable at Bayern. He is also a fighter who knew how to force his destiny by showing enormous courage and abnegation. »
And how does Rummenigge judge the personality of the Canadian?
“He is always polite, courteous and smiling. He’s a good person. He never forgets where he comes from. In any case, I sincerely hope that he will stay many more years in Munich, because he is also very appreciated by our supporters who like to identify with certain players, and Alphonso is one of them. At Bayern, he found the ideal address to flourish. »
This summer, Davies took full advantage of his six weeks of vacation to return fresh and motivated in early July to the Sabenerstrasse (Bayern training center), well aware of the crucial deadlines looming with his club before packing his bags for Doha with the Canadian selection. On November 23, he will play the first World Cup match of his career against Belgium.
“Until then, we still have a lot of deadlines with Bayern,” said the native of Buduburam, a refugee camp in Ghana. Then we can focus on the World Cup. In any case, all these challenges promise to be very exciting. I feel physically and mentally fit and ready to take on all these challenges. »