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DOHA, Qatar — Alphonso Davies is already the best male player to put on a Canadian national team soccer jersey.
And, regardless of what happens to the 22-year-old from Edmonton from now on, he will always be remembered for ending a Canadian goal drought at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Yet, Davies does not want his lone highlight of the World Cup to be an opening goal in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Croatia.
Even though Canada has been eliminated from advancing to the next round of the 32-team tournament, there are still things to accomplish in its final game against Morocco on Thursday (10 a.m. ET) here at the Al Thumama Stadium.
“This team came to this World Cup to make history and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Davies said Tuesday. “The first game we came out great, we played well, but we didn’t get the three points (for a win) we wanted.
“The second game, I’m happy to be able to put my name in the history books and show our good side, show the quality, and definitely in this third game, we want something out of it. We’re going to go out there and keep playing the way we’ve been playing and show that we belong on this stage.”
Canada did not come here just to score a goal and leave, so the team was devastated when it was eliminated from the tournament with a game to play.
According to Davies, he was in no mood to put his accomplishment ahead of the team’s disappointment following the loss, which is why he didn’t stop and talk to the international journalists gathered in the media mix zone after his obligatory host-broadcaster interviews.
Two days later, Davies was more comfortable reflecting on the journey, which took him from a refugee camp in Ghana, to Canada, and eventually to the World Cup. He was happy to share the moment with his parents here in Qatar, who sacrificed so much so their family could have a brighter future.
“After the first game, they told me how proud they were of me,” Davies said. “And when I scored the goal, my mom teared up a little bit, seeing her son coming from a refugee camp to Canada and then go and on the world’s biggest stage — they were proud of me.
“My parents are people of few words, they don’t really say too much, but they really showed me they were proud.”
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Davies made a country proud when he scored 67 seconds into the game against Croatia. Having lost its first game of the tournament 1-0 to Belgium, despite badly outplaying the semifinalists from four years ago, Canada needed at least a draw against the finalists from Russia, in Croatia.
Canada was unable to score in 21 attempts on goal against Belgium, but netted the first one against Croatia as Davies ran onto a cross from Tajon Buchanan and powered a header into the net. It’s the first time Davies has scored on a header for Canada.
“How the goal started, is the we won the ball in midfield and we played the ball back to our defenders,” Davies said. “They played the ball over me, I watched the ball go over my head and then Cyle (Larin) took the ball down with a beautiful touch and he played it over to Tajon.
“I saw Tajon look up a couple of times and I knew I had to get in the box to give him an option. I made a run and tried to time it so I would be in the box at the right time. It went over the centre back’s head and my first instinct was to head it down. I don’t usually score headed goals, but this was a great one for me.”
The goal seemed to take everyone by surprise with how early in the game it occurred. The ball seemed to hang in the air, waiting for Davies to run onto it and he leapt over defender Josip Juranovic and bounced a header past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
Davies then turned and ran to the left corner flag, where he was joined by all of his teammates on the field and those on the bench.
“That was a great feeling,” Davies said. “I’ll remember that moment for a long time. My teammates were all around me, grabbing my jersey and pushing me. I had Liam Millar head-butt me at one point we were so excited and we just looked at each other. The moment was pure amazement with these guys.”
The goal ended a 361-minute drought for Canada at the World Cup and was nearly 40 years in the making. Canada was shut out in three losses at the 1986 tournament in Mexico.
In Morocco, Canada will be facing an opponent which is playing in its sixth World Cup, but has not gotten out of the group stage since 1986.
Morocco needs a win to secure play in the Round of 16 here. A draw might get it there as well, depending on what happens between Croatia and Belgium, which will be played simultaneously at the Ahmad Bin Stadium up the road in Al Rayyan.
“The motivation will be there; playing at the World Cup is motivation enough for this team,” Davies said. “Every time we step on the pitch, we bring that motivation to every game. We can’t get to the next round, but the motivation is there for us to try and get something from this game.
“We know it’s not going to be easy. We’re going to go out there just like the first game, we’re going to play as strong and as hard as possible.”
Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest
Postmedia’s soccer expert Derek Van Diest is on the ground in Qatar to cover every kickoff of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Subscribe today and get access to all his coverage.
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