The title “He will”, which baptizes this series on the players who will be at the World Cup in Qatar, could not be more symbolic than in the case of Alphonso Davies. For the Canadian national team’s Bayern Munich left-back and striker, participating in the biggest national team tournament on the planet is proof that supporting refugees can transform lives.

Davies is the son of Liberians. Although it was the first African country to achieve independence and carry the idea of ​​freedom in its own name (Liberia means “land of the freedmen”), the territory has been marked by a series of conflicts and civil wars. The second of them (between 1999 and 2003) led the player’s parents to flee to a refugee camp in Ghana, where he was born in 2000. Five years later, the family moved to Canada thanks to a program resettlement.

“I often wonder where I would have been if I had stayed there (in the refugee camp) and not taken advantage of the opportunities I had through resettlement. I don’t think I could have gotten to where I am today,” the player explained in an interview with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) website.

Entry into football was supported by another program: Free Footie, which encourages underprivileged children and young people to play sports in the Canadian city of Edmonton. From there, his talent allowed everything to go very quickly. At 14, he had already caught the eye of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, with whom he would sign his first professional contract at 15 and, at 16, he would become the youngest to play for Canada’s adult national team. .

Davies quickly caught the eye of scouts from Bayern, where he moved in 2019. Retreating to the left flank, he quickly conquered his space and played an important role in a season in which the German club won everything he played for.

Fast, dribbling and gifted with a good vision of the game, Davies, 22, was the big name in Canada’s squad alongside Jonathan David in the Concacaf Qualifiers and helped the country end a hiatus 36 years without participation in the World Cups. .

The first footballer to sign with UNHCR to be a corps ambassador, he also has another passion: music. Under the code name Phonzy, he often ventures out as a rapper. He records the songs in his own studio and posts them on social media.