Canada sweating over fitness of Bayern Munich star ahead of World Cup opener | OneFootball

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·20 November 2022

Canada sweating over fitness of Bayern Munich star ahead of World Cup opener

Article image:Canada sweating over fitness of Bayern Munich star ahead of World Cup opener

Canada could be without Alphonso Davies who is an injury doubt for their World Cup opener against Belgium on Wednesday.

Davies arrived into the camp nursing a hamstring issue, causing concern over his availability for Canada's first World Cup appearance since 1986.


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And while it looks like his injury won't rule him out of their tournament, head coach John Herdman gave an honest assessment of his condition.

Speaking in a press conference, Herdman admitted Davies is "still building towards top speed. But he hasn't hit that top speed yet.

"When you have hamstring injuries, there's always the key moment," he added: "That's when the hamstring is pushed, pushed to its limits.

"We've got to get this one right because it could be a long tournament for Canada. And that's the last thing I want is for Alphonso to miss this."

The 22-year-old suffered the strain during Bayern's victory over Hertha BSC at the beginning of November and missed their remaining two games before the winter break as a result.

Davies subsequently linked up with his national team later than planned, missing out on a friendly victory against Japan in Dubai.

Canada's appearance at the 2022 World Cup is the first time they have featured in the tournament forjust shy of 40 years, and will be only the men's team's second appearance in the tournament in the nation's history,

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