adminDOHA. – It was a moment that will go down in Canadian football history.
The country’s star player Alphonso Davies leapt high into the Doha sky to meet Tajon Buchanan’s perfect cross and powered in a header to become the first man to score for the Maple Leafs at a World Cup.
The opener against Croatia came just 68 seconds into the game and sent the North American side’s supporters into raptures inside Khalifa International Stadium.
Boss John Herdman said afterwards: “It was a great start and a proud moment for the fans in the stadium and people back home. We got to celebrate something we have been waiting for for a long time.”
But 2018 finalists Croatia did not read the script as they hit back to win 4-1, ending Canadian dreams by sending them out of the tournament following back-to-back defeats.
Winger Davies’ name will be etched forever in Canadian folklore as the man who scored their first World Cup goal in their fifth game – following 50 missed attempts.
His back story is one of incredible resilience which has seen the 22-year-old experience a meteoric rise.
Born in a refugee camp in Ghana in 2000, Davies’ parents fled civil war in Liberia and moved to Canada as refugees when he was five.
But he now plays for Bayern Munich – one of Europe’s biggest sides – after the Bundesliga champions paid a then-Major League Soccer record £9.84m to sign him from Vancouver Whitecaps as a 17-year-old in 2018. – BBC Sport.
Online Reporter