Canadian Alphonso Davies makes Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich

James Sharman, Danny Dichio and Craig Forrest discuss Alphonzo Davies making his debut in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

Canadian teenager Alphonso Davies made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich on Sunday.

Davies, 18, was an 86th-minute substitute for Frenchman Kingsley Coman in Bayern’s 4-1 home win over VfB Stuttgart.

He entered the game just two minutes after Polish international Robert Lewandowski scored to make it 4-1 for Bayern. Davies ended up playing on the left side of the field during his brief tenure on the pitch.


Davies’ only previous appearance for Bayern came in an exhibition match against Borussia Moenchengladbach earlier this month. He was an unused substitute and remained on the bench during Bayern’s 3-1 win over Hoffenheim in Bundesliga action last week.

The Canadian made headlines last summer when he signed with Bayern from the Vancouver Whitecaps as part of a transfer deal that could surpass US $22 million when all is said and done. He finished out the 2018 MLS season with the Whitecaps before flying to Germany to train with Bayern and officially joining the club this month.

Davies was born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his Liberian parents fled the country to avoid its civil war. When Davies was five, he and his family emigrated to Canada and eventually settled in Edmonton. It was there where Davies’ passion for soccer blossomed, playing in “Free Footie,” a league for disadvantaged kids, and later for local youth clubs. The Whitecaps eventually took notice of Davies and signed him to their youth residency program as a 14-year-old.

He turned out for the Whitecaps’ farm club in the lower-tier United Soccer League, and signed a pro contract with the senior team in 2016. At 15, Davies became the second-youngest player to play in MLS.

In 2017, after finally receiving his citizenship, Davies debuted for the national team in a friendly in Montreal, and then scored three goals at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, helping Canada reach the quarterfinals. He was voted Canadian male player of the year for 2018.

[snippet id=4157899]

Davies is not the first Canadian to feature in the Bundesliga, following in the footsteps of countrymen Paul Stalteri, Kevin McKenna, Julian de Guzman, Olivier Occean, Simeon Jackson, Rob Friend, Marcel de Jong and Daniel Imhof.

Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves, who shunned Canada to represent England in international competition (earning 42 caps for the Three Lions), was a star midfielder for Bayern Munich, winning four Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Champions League during his seven seasons with the Bavarian club.

Bayern’s next Bundesliga match is Feb. 2 vs. Bayer Leverkusen on the road.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.