{"id":87805,"date":"2026-06-27T18:15:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/canadas-davies-ready-to-play-after-injury-absence-ahead-of-south-africa-showdown\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T18:15:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:15:55","slug":"canadas-davies-ready-to-play-after-injury-absence-ahead-of-south-africa-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/canadas-davies-ready-to-play-after-injury-absence-ahead-of-south-africa-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada’s Davies Ready to Play After Injury Absence Ahead of South Africa Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Canadian soccer captain Alphonso Davies is healthy and ready to take the field Sunday when Canada faces South Africa in a last-32 knockout match, head coach Jesse Marsch announced.<\/p>

Davies had been working his way back from a hamstring injury he sustained during Bayern Munich’s Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain. The injury kept the 25-year-old on the sidelines throughout Canada’s group stage competition.<\/p>

Speaking on Saturday, Marsch expressed enthusiasm about having his captain available. “Now that we have Alphonso back and healthy and ready to perform, I think it’s a big moment for the team and a big boost for the team,” the coach said.<\/p>

Davies reportedly pushed to get playing time during Canada’s final Group B contest against Switzerland, a match the team dropped 2-1. However, Marsch held him back, determining it was not the right time to risk his star player’s health.<\/p>

The captain was candid about how difficult it was to watch from the sidelines. “It was hard to watch those three games,” Davies said. “It was painful. The only thing you want to do is play.”<\/p>

Marsch defended his cautious approach to managing injured players, comparing top athletes to high-performance vehicles. “You have to treat them like they’re Ferraris,” the coach explained.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canadian soccer captain Alphonso Davies has been cleared to play in Sunday’s round-of-32 match against South Africa, according to coach Jesse Marsch. Davies had been sidelined with a hamstring injury and missed Canada’s entire group stage. His return is being called a major boost for the squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":87804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782598555266.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-mQd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71760,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/canadian-soccer-captain-davies-expected-to-miss-world-cup-opening-match\/","url_meta":{"origin":87805,"position":0},"title":"Canadian Soccer Captain Davies Expected to Miss World Cup Opening Match","author":"Admin","date":"May 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Canada's national team captain Alphonso Davies will likely be sidelined for his country's World Cup opener on June 12 due to a hamstring injury sustained during Champions League play. 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Davies has been dealing with a hamstring injury but was cleared to play by coach Jesse Marsch on Wednesday. Qatar will field an unchanged lineup from their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781820070418.jpg?fit=450%2C299&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":74035,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/canada-names-world-cup-squad-with-injured-captain-davies-goalkeeper-battle-continues\/","url_meta":{"origin":87805,"position":3},"title":"Canada Names World Cup Squad with Injured Captain Davies, Goalkeeper Battle Continues","author":"Admin","date":"May 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Canada unveiled its 26-player World Cup roster Friday, including recovering captain Alphonso Davies who suffered a hamstring injury. 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