As CanMNT begins generational shift, Alphonso Davies focuses on new role: 'I'm ready to lead this team'
It can be easy to forget, as he still is just 23, but Alphonso Davies has quickly grown up over the last few years.
Now in his fifth full season at Bayern Munich, and now almost seven years removed from his CanMNT debut, he’s ready to step into more of a leadership role for this Canadian team as they get set for a crucial Copa América playoff against Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday.
Having called in a much younger group for their upcoming game, leaving home veterans such as Milan Borjan, Steven Vitória and Junior Hoilett, while injuries have kept out other leaders such as Jonathan Osorio, Sam Adekugbe and Richie Laryea, it has opened the room for some new leaders to step up. And Davies wants to be among them.
He might still be one of the youngest names on this team - despite there being no one over the age of 29 in this squad, Davies is the fifth-youngest name on the list - but now up to 44 caps, good for fourth in this team, he’s certainly one of the most experienced names in this squad despite that.
As a result, with there now being no permanent captain after the retirement of Atiba Hutchinson last year, Davies feels ready to throw his name in the hat for that role going forward.
So while he won’t wear it this weekend, as Stephen Eustáquio looks set to take the armband for this game, Davies feels that he’s ready to be considered for such an honour.
Won't be a surprise to see Stephen Eustáquio wear the armband for the #CanMNT on Saturday, he's become a key leader on this team, isn't afraid to speak out, and wears his heart on his sleeve on the pitch
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) March 20, 2024
He'll look to lead this CanMNT side through a massive clash vs 🇹🇹now https://t.co/Qmg6FYkmCK
And it’s important to note that language - he wants to be considered, not selected. At the end of the day, all that matters for Davies is his desire to step up and represent this Canadian team with pride every time he takes the pitch, helping them achieve their goals and leading in his own way.
For him, wearing the armband is secondary to that, but if it were to come his way, he feels ready for it.
“Yeah, I had a conversation with the coach (Mauro Biello),” Davies told Kristian Jack in an exclusive interview for OneSoccer this week. “I didn’t tell him that I wanted to be the captain, but I just asked him to put me in the running.”
“Whenever that comes, whether it’s at the Copa America or the 2026 World Cup, I’m ready for the role, and I’m ready to lead this team. But whether I have the armband or not, I'm still going to lead the team in my way, on and off the pitch.”
“So I’m excited, a new era of this Canadian team is upon us, there are a lot of young players here, a lot of hungry players that know how to play the game, that strive to keep their spot in the national team, so we’re going to see a lot of good football (going forward).”
Alphonso Davies on being a leader – and possibly the captain – of the #CanMNT 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) March 21, 2024
▶️ FULL 1-on-1: OneSoccer YouTube pic.twitter.com/dcRmoR8Ri5
Yet, that’s a sign of the growth that Davies has made as a player, and what he’s been able to absorb on his journey with this team.
Having learned first-hand from Canadian leaders like Hutchinson, Borjan, Vitória, Hoilett and Doneil Henry, who were key in helping John Herdman foster the “brotherhood” that helped Canada push to the 2022 World Cup, Davies feels that helped him a lot as a young player, giving him confidence that can often be hard to find as a youngster on a veteran team.
“The veterans made everyone feel equal, feel good,” Davies said. “I felt confident to speak up to talk about what was bothering me or to motivate the team, never really had to bite my tongue, I spoke my mind, and said what I wanted to say.”
“You want to do that positively, as we know that tempers flare sometimes, but that's how it is in the game of football, but yeah, the leaders and the veteran players made it comfortable for young players like myself to speak their minds.”
Along with what he was able to learn from the great leaders he’s at Bayern, such as Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich and more, that’s helped him grow a lot, and he admits as much.
“Yeah, definitely, the first time I went to Bayern, I was just learning from the veterans and the legends that were there,” he continued. “And having been there for a while, now I'm 23 and have been with these players that just want it, and that carries a lot of weight, because as a young player watching and sitting back, when you see a guy miss a shot in training or miss a pass, he doesn't sit down and dwell on it, he just keeps going and keeps going, then if he dribbles and loses the ball, he goes again.”
“For young players, when you do make mistakes, it starts getting in your head, but that's human nature, if you lose the ball, you win the ball, you do something good, you do something bad, I just have to keep playing through it.”
So now, Davies feels that he’s ready to take that next step for Canada. Already a key leader on the pitch for this team, he feels that he’s ready to take a bigger role off the field, allowing him to be a key voice on this team.
From there, he’s eager to lead this Canadian team to what awaits them as they continue their journey toward the 2026 World Cup.
That starts with this game this weekend, where they could set up a massive opportunity for themselves with qualification to this summer’s Copa América.
And that’s all that’s on Davies’s mind at the moment. Even as he juggles the question of what awaits him at the club level, where he has to choose between staying at Bayern or moving to Real Madrid, he wants to make sure that this Canadian team continues to push towards 2026 in the right way.
Because of that, he’s ready to come out strong in this game, putting in a strong performance on the pitch while showing off his new leadership chops in key moments, helping this younger squad show that the next generation of this CanMNT is ready to take this team to new heights.
“Yeah, I'm ready for this game, and I think everybody's ready for the game as well,” he finished. “We're all excited and very proud that we have (this opportunity).”
“We wanted to finish it at home against Jamaica, but things went differently, so in this game where it’s a ‘win and you’re in’ or ‘lose and go home’, we want to be that team that goes to the next round, that goes to the Copa America and plays against Argentina, Brazil, Chile and all those guys, so we’re looking forward to this and we’re excited.”
