Even with all the praise, personal accolades and titles that are arriving now, Alphonso Davies can still remember huddling around a television set at the St. Nicholas Soccer Academy back in Edmonton, Canada.
Davies’ family made the move to Canada as Ghanaian refugees and set up a base in Edmonton and it quickly became as much about football as it did education for the player now known fondly as ‘Road Runner’.
Around midday, the young players would come together to watch a game in England or Spain, whichever was featuring their favourite players. For Davies that was Lionel Messi and on Friday night he swaps that school stool for a one-on-one duel with his childhood idol.
Alphonso Davies (left) will face his toughest assignment to date as he faces idol Lionel Messi
The Barcelona superstar was the one player Davies grew up following at school in Canada
‘All of the footballers (from school) were in there, cheering on whoever they wanted to win,’ Davies, 19, told UEFA ahead of Friday night’s Champions League quarter-final.
‘It was amazing, and now being able to play in the Champions League, against one of my favourite players in the world, it’s incredible. Honestly, I’m lost for words – a dream come true.’
Now the kids at St. Nicholas tune in for Davies more than any other superstar. On Friday, it will be a must-see encounter back at home for the Canadian full-back’s duel with Messi.
And it is hard to escape the feeling that Davies v Messi will be the match-defining battle. There are plenty of fascinating match-ups but how well-contained Messi ends up being is likely to be the difference in Portugal.
‘We have a good “Messi stopper”,’ Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said this week.
Davies has been sensational since joining Bayern and is seen as the best in his full-back role
Davies toasted the domestic double this season but is now aiming to clinch a famous treble
‘If Messi plays on his side, Alphonso will take care of him. He hasn’t really been outpaced or dribbled past this season.’
Even after being crowned the Bundesliga’s Young Player of the Year, Davies simply refuses to become self-indulgent in his remarkable rise to being viewed as one of the finest in his position in the world.
Davies appears unburdened by the same worries that bog down his contemporaries. He enjoys using social media video platform TikTok and has accrued 1.2million followers on the service. Davies has fun and given his rapid rise to stardom few can begrudge him that.
After he was overlooked by Manchester United while at the Vancouver Whitecaps, Bayern took a chance and got even more than they could have imagined from a player with not a lick of German in his vocabulary when he walked through the door.
He has the frightening pace – hence the ‘Road Runner’ Looney Tunes nickname – the precision in the tackle and also the delicate touch when it comes to assisting in the final third.
Messi dominated Bayern in 2015 and will be full of confidence about facing them on Friday
Davies (left) has immense pace and broke a Bundesliga speed record at the end of the season
Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku was left in disbelief watching as he said he is ‘fast as f***’
Speed is what has caught the eye most, not least after Davies broke the Bundesliga speed record in the title-clinching game against Werder Bremen this summer.
‘Alphonso Davies is fast as f***,’ Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku wrote on Twitter after the Canadian peaked at 22.7mph. It was almost like watching a match on fast-forward.
Dortmund striker Erling Haaland is no slouch and yet Davies made light work of him, even giving the Norwegian a head-start before somehow getting back to snuff out the danger.
But as good as Haaland is, there is no assignment to prepare for Messi. The Argentine, as Jerome Boateng found out back when these sides met in 2015, is one of a kind.
Boateng’s ankles were ruined that night, Messi turning this way and that, and in the end the German side were left blushing after being embarrassed by the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The 19-year-old has become immensely popular on TikTok and posts a variety of videos
Messi is Davies’ childhood idol but keep him in check on Friday and Bayern should progress
‘We know that he’s a great player – we’re not going to take that away from him – so the best you can do is try, I guess,’ Davies added to UEFA, with no sense of nervousness.
‘It’s going to be an incredible game. All I can say is that I am excited to play the game and I’m sure everyone’s excited to watch as well.’
Barcelona may not be their formidable selves with Quique Setien in the managerial hotseat, but with Messi in the line-up they always have a chance. It is down to Davies to show he did his homework during those lunchtime watchalongs back in school.