Alphonso Davies Was Named Canada Soccer's Player of the Year... Again!
Davies has been a breath of fresh air in multiple positions down the left hand side of the field for both Bayern Munich and the Canada Men’s National team. While he has primarily filled the Left Back position while playing in the German League, his pace and lack of fear with the ball at his feet has allowed him to develop into a fantastic Winger. Though he mostly plays on the wing for Canada.
At 22 years old he has quickly become one of the most sought after players in the world and his career is enough to make even the most storied of veterans envious. 5 Bundesliga Titles, 2 German Cups, 3 German Super Cups, 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup as well as a whole host of individual awards. But the one we’re here to talk about today is the Canadian Men’s Player of the Year award.
The Canadian Men’s Player of the Year award has been given out since 1993 with Alex Bunbury named as the first winner. Since 1993, only 16 men have had the honour of being named as the player of the year, Only 6 of those men have multiple awards. With Dwayne De Rosario (4), Atiba Hutchinson (6) and Alphonso Davies (4) in the top 3. Given the fact Atiba Hutchinson is 40 years old, I can’t see him winning any more of these awards, so realistically the only potential winners people will be looking at will be Davies and Jonathan David right now.
Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David could be considered the future of Canadian soccer, both of them are still incredibly young. Alphonso Davies is 22 years old and Jonathan David is 23! Perhaps the most interesting part is that both of these young men are plying their trade in Europe. As we mentioned earlier Davies is tearing it up in the Bundesliga, but for Jonathan David, he currently plays on the front line for Lille where he has 52 goals in 112 games. Very solid return from the 23 year old if you ask me. Jonathan David could see a change of scenery this summer however after Lille only made it into the Europa Conference Qualifiers. But first, these 2 guys will be meeting up for International duty!
Speaking of international duty, it’s time for us to take a quick look at some of the Upcoming Fixtures for the Canada Men’s National Team, while we’re here we’ll also take a look at some of the odds for these 2 guys domestic clubs for next season, both of these teams will be playing in European competition next season but there are only odds available for their leagues right now! First up however, it’s the National team and the next fixture for Canada is the CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final as they play Panama at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada!
For this upcoming match, we took a glance at some of the top Canadian sport betting sites to find the most promising odds. Here are the best ones we came across: On Friday 16th June, Canada come into this as favorites, the 47th-ranked Men's team come in at -154, returning $8.25 from an initial stake of $5. For Panama who currently rank 58, you can get them at +450 underdogs, these odds would return $27.50 from the same stake of $5. If Canada get through this game, they will face a tough game against either the USA or Mexico. There aren’t any odds available for the outright winner of the CONCACAF Nations League right now however, it will be a tight one to call that’s for sure!
Next up, it’s time to look at the futures for both Alphonso Davies Bayern Munich and Jonathan Davids OSC Lille. Starting with Germany, it seems like Bayern Munich remain, as always, favorites to win the Bundesliga at -400, returning $6.25 from $5. Borrusia Dortmund come in just behind them at -150 returning $8.33 and RB Leipzig come in at +100 in third place returning $10. In Ligue 1 the top 3 are Paris Saint Germain at -667 returning $5.75, Marseille at +900 returning $50 and Monaco 15 +1400 returning $75. OSC Lille find themselves way down the pecking order however at +4900 returning $250! All from a stake of $5.
While it’s true that soccer isn’t the most popular sport in Canada, its rise in popularity across the United States has seeped across into Canada and its popularity is slowly on the up and up. With three teams in Major League Soccer from Canada, CF Montreal, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps, more Canadian eyes are being drawn to the sport itself. Alongside that more kids are wanting to get into soccer to be like their heroes. Whether their heroes are playing in the MLS or whether they’re Canadian superstars like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David. It’s great for the sport and even better for the Nation.
So soccer fans, just how good do you think Alphonso Davies can become? Should he transition into a winger full time or should he stick it out at full back? Mixing in playing as a forward for the National team? It always feels to me like defenders aren’t as well recognized in the game as forwards, but over the last few years players like Alphonso Davies and Trent Alexander-Arnold at full back, Virgil Van Djik and Éder Militão at Centre Back have been bringing a lot more attention to the defensive side of the game, with Virgil Van Dijk coming in as runner up in the race for the 2019 Ballon d’Or.