Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies has disclosed that he was never approached officially by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to represent the country.
The wing-back was born in Buduburam, a refugee camp in the Gomoa East District of Ghana to Liberian parents who fled civil war in their country. His family emigrated to Canada when he was five and only received his Canadian citizenship in 2017 after which he opted to play for Les Rouges instead of either of his birth countries.
Even though the 22-year-old has been playing football for some time now, he claims that the Ghana FA never considered him because of his under-the-radar status.
It was not until his big transfer move that they tried to reach out through social media. Unfortunately, the timing was not right for Davies as he had already committed to playing for Canada and received disapproval from his mother regarding representing Ghana at the international level.
“Ghana never reached out and also my mum was like, no [to the idea of me playing for Ghana],” he said during a ‘Say Less’ podcast when quizzed whether was an option to play for the country of his birth.
“I was playing like not even like the academy they never like said [anything about wanting me] I wasn’t a big name. When the news came out that I was going to Bayern, then I got a message from the Ghana Federation.
“I think it was someone on the federation he texted me on Instagram because he didn’t have my number or email. But it was too late, at that time I had already got my citizenship and already made it to [represent] Canada.”
In June 2017, Alphonso Davies made his debut for Canada by becoming the youngest player to appear for the senior team. He has 13 goals in 39 caps so far.
Buduburam-born Alphonso Davies scores Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal
