{"id":1245147,"date":"2022-11-06T12:42:30","date_gmt":"2022-11-06T12:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/11\/06\/from-refugee-camp-in-buduburam-to-world-cup-the-story-of\/"},"modified":"2022-11-06T12:42:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-06T12:42:30","slug":"from-refugee-camp-in-buduburam-to-world-cup-the-story-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/11\/06\/from-refugee-camp-in-buduburam-to-world-cup-the-story-of\/","title":{"rendered":"From refugee camp in Buduburam to World Cup: The story of"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Alphonso
Alphonso Davies’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Alphonso Davies\u2019 unlikely path to spearheading Canada\u2019s first World Cup campaign in nearly four decades began in a West African refugee camp where children\u2019s dreams are eclipsed by the need to survive.<\/p>\n

Davies, a left back at Bayern Munich, was born in the Ghanaian refugee camp of Buduburam to Liberian parents who fled civil war in their country.<\/p>\n

His family emigrated to Canada when he was five, the age at which many Canadian children put on skates and handle a hockey stick for the first time.<\/p>\n

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The former refugee, now 22, has raised Canadian men\u2019s soccer to new heights, becoming the youngest player to feature for the senior national team as a 16-year-old and the first Canadian to win the men\u2019s Champions League Final.<\/p>\n

The meteoric rise of Davies, who has pledged to donate his World Cup earnings to charity, began at an elementary school in snowy Edmonton.<\/p>\n

Teachers noticed his exuberance, natural athleticism and precocious skill level and entered him in an after-school soccer league for inner-city children.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I started playing organised soccer, parents, coaches and other team mates were telling me to keep going and that I could become something so I started believing it,\u201d Davies was quoted as saying on the Bundesliga website. \u201cThat\u2019s what started me wanting to become a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018TO DARE AND TO DO\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Davies was a prodigy. At 14, he enrolled in the residency program of Major League Soccer\u2019s Vancouver Whitecaps and soon began making regular appearances for the senior team.<\/p>\n

Davies joined Bayern for US$22 million in 2018, a record transfer fee for an MLS player, with his ear-to-ear grin and effervescent style on the pitch making him a fan favourite.<\/p>\n

In 2020, he became the first North American player to be voted onto the FIFPRO World XI by his peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has experienced a lot in his life, which enables him to have a threshold greater than most people to dare and to do and to bring his identity,\u201d Canada manager John Herdman said when Davies moved to Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just plays with that smile on his face. He gets kicked on the field, he just gets back up. There\u2019s no theatrics, no rolling around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davies\u2019 brilliance was undeniable in Canada\u2019s emphatic 4-1 win over Panama in World Cup qualifying.<\/p>\n

In a move viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, Davies made an 80-yard run down the wing, balletically keeping the ball in touch, outsmarting a defender and finishing with a low strike to give Canada the lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlphonso\u2019s goal was in essence a story of his life,\u201d one user wrote in the comments under the clip. \u201cHard work, perseverance, dedication and never giving up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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