Canada’s World Cup captain was in North Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday to meet fans days ahead of a highly anticipated matchup with Switzerland.
Speaking at The Brick in Park Royal Mall, the star left-back touched on what it means to play matches of this magnitude in Vancouver.
“I came to Canada when I was a very young guy running from something that was happening in my country over there, but Canada took me in and made me feel at home, made my family feel at home,” he said.
“It’s nice to see the atmosphere in BC Place. I’ve never seen it that full, but to see the Canadian fans come out and show their love is very, very important.”
Davies said he and his teammates are fairly focused during the matches, but explained that the crowd comes back “when the ball hits the back of the net.”
“The energy the crowd gave us pushes us even more. The roar we get when we come on the pitch for warm-up, we all hear it, we all feel it as well,” he said.
Fans of all ages lined up early for the chance to meet Davies and ask him a question. Fans mentioned waiting as long as two hours, but many told CTV News they were just happy to see him.
“I’ve watched Davies all my whole life,” said Zachary Baker, before explaining that Davies used to come to youth soccer camps Baker attended when the star played for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“I got my jersey, came here, and then I was one of the first ones here…Alphonso is my favourite player.”
“I used to watch him at the Whitecaps; the city loves him,” another fan added.
Fans and reporters alike asked Davies about how he felt heading into the Switzerland game, as he missed Canada’s World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina and spent the team’s historic win against Qatar cheering on his teammates from the bench.
Touching on the topic, Canada’s captain erred on the side of positivity.
“I feel good, you know, having the win last game,” he said. “We’re excited.”
Canada returns to BC Place for the kickoff against Switzerland at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24.
