Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies suffered a torn ACL while playing in the Concacaf Nations League for Canada, and now his agent, Nedal Huoseh, is criticizing Canada Soccer for their treatment of his client.
“I am very disappointed. Alphonso was not 100 percent after the Mexico game [in the semifinals] and it was planned that he was not going to start against the USA,” Huoseh said in a statement to OneSoccer.
“On Saturday night, the expectation was he would not be in the XI. As a captain, I feel he was pressured to start the game by the coach. Alphonso is not the kind of guy to say no in those moments. He ended up playing and look what happened. Canada Soccer needs to do a better job managing these players, in my opinion. Alphonso is down and obviously really disappointed about this injury. Thankfully, he is in wonderful hands with a world-class group at Bayern who will take great care of him. He is expected to have the surgery within the next 24 hours.”
Davies went off injured while playing in Canada’s 2-1 win over the United States in the Nations League third-place match. His season seems to be over after Bayern said he would be out for “several months.”
“In international breaks there is unfortunately always a danger that players come back injured, and this time it has hit us especially hard,” Bayern’s board member for sport Max Eberl said. “The absences of Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano weigh heavily on FC Bayern.”
Eberl said the team would “pull even closer together now” to make up for losing Davies and Upamecano. “The quality is there to keep on pursuing our big goals.”
The injuries could mean Bayern relies more on central defender Kim Min-jae, who returned to training Monday after an Achilles tendon injury forced him to miss international games for South Korea. It could also mean more game time for Bayern’s fringe players like center back Eric Dier, left back Raphael Guerreiro and versatile defender Hiroki Ito.
Bayern next plays St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Saturday and faces Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League next month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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