Shooting star: Bayern’s Alphonso Davies can light up soccer’s biggest stage

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How’s your COVID going? Not so hot, eh?

Last week, I moved a couple of barbells from a bedroom closet onto the bathroom counter. That seemed like progress.

In September, I may move them back. That would constitute two “reps” equalling one “set,” which I believe qualifies me as a “bodybuilder.”

You know who’s having a good COVID? Alphonso Davies.

Pre-COVID, Davies was a success story in the way that we usually qualify soccer success stories in Canada – he’d made the jump to Europe.

At that point, most Canadians either disappear or self-immolate. They start out in the Netherlands and end up in the Turkish second division.

Eventually, they come back to North America, seeking solace through lesser competition. Their names have been slightly burnished by association with an English club you’ve half-heard of, but we all know the truth – they didn’t have it.

Davies – Ghanian-Born, Edmonton-raised and Vancouver-blooded – made his Major League Soccer debut at 15 years old. He was 17 when the Whitecaps sold him to Bayern Munich.

His US$20-million transfer fee was the sort of money a club such as Bayern pulls from petty cash. In essence, the German club was taking a flier in the hopes of purchasing an undervalued asset.

For most of the next couple of seasons, Davies was a member of the chorus. He’d appear at the end of games or not at all. He began working his way into the starting 11 as a fullback at the end of 2019. He had a good night against Chelsea that got people to talking.

But when the lockdown arrived, Davies was still an unknown commodity in most quarters. He was, at best, a comer.

Then a remarkable set of circumstances gave Davies a chance to become something much bigger.

The Bundesliga was the first major global sports league to restart during the pandemic. For a few weeks, if you wanted to watch anything resembling the big time, German soccer was your only option.

The third game-week back featured a substantial fixture – Bayern vs. Borrussia Dortmund.

Dortmund is not a super-club, but it has a reputation for being the best talent developers in the world. Currently, its hottest property is a strapping Norwegian striker named Erling Braut Haaland. He even sounds like a star.

Midway through that game, Haaland received a ball in space. There was only one Bayern defender anywhere near him. The Norwegian skipped by that guy like he was a malfunctioning lawn sprinkler.

Davies was about 10 yards behind Haaland and already going at what looked like full speed. Far too far away to do anything. But as Haaland turned in toward goal, Davies hit the nitrous.

He was suddenly going so fast, he ran by Haaland, gently picked the ball off the Norwegian’s foot and turned away. This sort of thing does not happen in top-level soccer. And it especially does not happen to players who are valued in the nine figures. But Davies had made it happen.

In the old days, you became a star by scoring a bunch of goals or winning a few championships. Today, you manage it by doing something meme-able. With just one move, Davies had provided a visual shorthand for “stupidly fast.”

Afterward, his teammate Thomas Muller deepened that impression with another viral clip: “He gets the opponent thinking ‘I have time, I have time’ and then – MEEP MEEP MEEP MEEP – the FC Bayern Roadrunner comes ahead and steals the ball.”

It’s one thing if your Italian or English teammate thinks you’re good. But when you are exciting Germans enough to get them doing Mel Blanc impressions, you have done well for yourself.

After just that one magnificent performance in a sporting vacuum, Davies was being talked about as the best left back in the world. He’s still only 19 years old. He only became a starter in October.

On Sunday, Davies will star in the biggest occasion on the sports calendar – the Champions League final.

Bayern is significantly favoured over another lavishly funded megaclub, Paris Saint-Germain. Davies is not the top name brand in the clash, but he’s up on the marquee.

So just by way of recap: two years ago, Davies was a teenager playing for a marginal club in a marginal league in just about the most marginal soccer country on Earth.

Today, he is arguably the best player at his position playing on the best team in the world in the biggest game of the year.

Pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

You could make a credible argument Davies is now the most significant Canadian athlete at work. His only real competition in that regard is Bianca Andreescu.

(Yes, yes, I can hear your ‘But what about …?’ from here. Hockey doesn’t count. Nobody in Taiwan or Togo has set an alarm so that they don’t miss a minute of Oilers vs. Penguins. Same thing for baseball. There is no Canadian basketball player who is discussed in “best of” terms. Olympians only catch notice every four-year cycle. That leaves tennis and only tennis. After Davies, the next four most recognized Canadians are probably tennis players.)

Davies’s wattage is amplified by a charming off-field charisma that he carefully curates on social media. The kid seems fun. You can’t say that about many (any?) hockey players.

I suppose a good Canadian would say, “I can’t wait to see him wearing the Maple Leaf.” But I feel a sliver of regret for Davies that he’s committed to play for Canada. Regardless of how good he becomes, he is likely to end up his generation’s George Best – a top, top-class professional who never got to shine on the international stage because his country wasn’t good enough.

It’s possible that’s changing, between Davies and another hyped youngster, Jonathan David, newly of Lille in France’s Ligue 1. But two players makes a very good volleyball team, and not much of a soccer one.

However, that’s the future. Right now, Davies is the present. He’s more the present than just about anyone in world sport.

He is already the best soccer player this country has produced. He is on the cusp of getting his name dropped in conversation with the Ronaldos and Messis.

Most delightfully, he’s the most entertaining and influential thing this country has exported since SCTV. He is the sort of player who captivates one generation and then creates the next.