Alphonso Davies was born on November 2nd, 2000 in Buduburam refugee camp in Gomoa East District, Ghana to Liberian parents
It was hard to live because the only way you survive sometimes is you have to carry guns. We didn’t have any interest in shooting guns. So, we decided to just escape from there.
When Alphonso was five, his family moved to Canada as refugees and settled in Edmonton, Alberta.
Humble Beginnings
Alphonso was attending Mother Theresa Catholic school when he caught the eye of his grade 6 teacher, Melissa Guzzo.
He is such a natural talent. Anything he touched – track, basketball, any sport – he was the kid.
Melissa contacted Tim Adams, founder of free footie – a free after-school soccer league for kids in Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 who didn’t have access to equipment and transportation to games and suggested Tim should take a few minutes to watch Alphonso play. Tim said: I saw him make his first touch and I knew immediately.
This kid has a gift for the game. Other kids I’ve seen have had that level of athleticism. But he had the mind. He was way more than a guy who could kick the ball into the back of the net.
Tim also invited a soccer coach at St Nicholas soccer academy in Edmonton, Marco Bossio and he wasn’t disappointed either. “Yes, we need this kid to come to our program,” said Marco.
After the game, Marco approached the 13-year old and asked about his plans for junior high and he said he’ll be playing for the soccer academy. Tim and Marco were delighted to have him and proceeded to coach him for the next three years.
To be honest, I was just trying to play for fun, to keep myself active and keep myself out of trouble. I didn’t think I was really good; I was just playing the game because I enjoyed playing it with my friends. Then once I started playing organized soccer, parents, coaches and other teammates were telling me to keep going and that I could become something so I started believing it. That’s what started me wanting to become a professional. That’s when I started training hard to become a professional. “Alphonso Davies”.
It didn’t take long for the national team to notice his outstanding talent. He had already represented the country at U17 and U20 level and proceeded to make his debut for the senior side against Curaçao, a week after he obtained his Canadian citizenship.
In June 2017, he became the youngest player to appear for the Canadian men’s national team and later became Canada’s youngest ever goal scorer By scoring two goals in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against French Guiana, he became the youngest player to score for the Canadian men’s national team, the youngest player to score at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and first player born in the 2000s to score at an international tournament.
On July 25th, 2018, Vancouver Whitecaps announced a multi-million dollar transfer of Alphonso to Bundesliga giants – Bayern Munich. Alphonso will be finishing the season with the Whitecaps before joining Bayern Munich in January 2019.
I can’t wait to play for Bayern. I used to play as Bayern on FIFA.
