Bayern Munich’s star has not played since coming off the pitch clutching the back of his right thigh in a Bundesliga game against Hertha Berlin on November 6. Davies arrived in Qatar late last Friday after staying in Germany for treatment of a hamstring issue.
Bayern later stated that his participation in the World Cup was “not jeopardized,” which, while encouraging, did not provide a date for his recovery to play.
Canada Soccer has not made the 22-year-old Edmonton native accessible for interviews at its daily post-training media meetings. However, Davies took the initiative on Sunday, declaring himself fit in an interview with TSN.
Fans celebrate as Bayern Munich’s speed king arrived lately and fit for World Cup opener
“I’m ready to go,” he said, referring to Canada’s 41st-ranked team’s midweek tournament opener against No. 2 Belgium.
Coach John Herdman was significantly more circumspect while speaking to the media on Saturday. While Davies was able to participate in some of the contact work during training, he noted, “he’s still progressing towards hitting his top speed.”
“He hasn’t hit that top speed yet and when you have hamstring injuries that’s always the key moment. That’s when the hamstring is pushed to its limits.”
Davies appeared to hit one of those limits Monday during a warm-up drill when he grimaced and pulled up, seemingly favoring a leg. He returned to the warm-up but looked in visible discomfort for several seconds.
Fans celebrate as Bayern Munich’s speed king arrived lately and fit for World Cup opener
Media are allowed to see 15 minutes before training starts for real and they are dispatched back to the out-of-view media center. That means they get to watch the players coming out on the field and warming up.
They did it on Monday, two fields distant from the reporters who needed the Hubble Space Telescope to observe what was going on. Davies’ agony was captured using a long camera lens.
What happens after the warm-up is a closely guarded secret. With the traveling media ignorant, players may light up a Hibachi grill and pop out a cold one.
There are numerous ideas about the Canadian star in the absence of any trustworthy intelligence.
Was Davies’ public statement intended to put pressure on Canada to play him Wednesday, following Herdman’s public warning?
“My mission is to make sure he plays at this World Cup, it’s a childhood dream for him,” the coach said Saturday, before adding: “And not to put him in a position where he’s unsafe.”
The Davies camp has demonstrated its willingness to rock the Canada boat by requesting — and making public — that the sale of his jerseys be halted until an image/name likeness arrangement is reached. Talks on such an accord were already underway, but being public undoubtedly hastened the process.
Davies’ brand is constantly cultivated, and his management is naturally guarded about who he contacts within the business.
Davies selects things that are close to his heart – he is an enthusiastic FIFA gamer and simply enjoys wearing Crocs
As a Cars lover, he flaunted his Lightning McQueen special-edition Crocs in a Doha social media video. The animated Pixar franchise’s protagonist is Montgomery (Lightning) McQueen.
