Davies fitness boost for Canada as Bayern Munich star declares himself ‘ready to start’ at 2022 World Cup

• Full-back picked up knock at club level
• Faced a race against time to make Qatar 2022
• Feels he can line up against Belgium

WHAT HAPPENED? The 22-year-old full-back has been out of action since picking up an untimely knock while turning out for his club in the Bundesliga back on November 5. He faced a race against time from that point to line up for his country during a global showpiece in Qatar, but Davies believes he is in contention to face Belgium on Wednesday.

WHAT THEY SAID: Davies has told TSN: “I’m ready to start. When I picked up the injury at first I was devastated, not just for me, but for the team that I was playing on at the time and obviously the World Cup. But luckily it wasn’t too bad of an injury and now we’re still in recovery, we’re still trying to heal. And yeah, it’s going well, and I’m just happy to be here and happy to represent my country.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Davies joined up with the Canada camp on Friday, having undergone treatment in Germany, and is aware that national team coach John Herdman will be easing him into action – having only recently returned to contact work in training. He added: “I know they wouldn’t put me on the pitch if it was, you know, 50-50. I think they 100 per cent knew that I’ll be able to recover well and be able to play this tournament.”

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? After opening their campaign at Qatar 2022 against a star-studded Belgium side, Canada – who are gracing the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986 – will face Croatia and Morocco in their other Group F fixtures.