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Canadian star Alphonso Davies, left, grimaces during a warm-up exercise at the World Cup in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. Davies, who is returning from a hamstring strain, returned to warm up. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Canadian star Alphonso Davies, left, grimaces during a warm-up exercise at the World Cup in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. Davies, who is returning from a hamstring strain, returned to warm up. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Canadian winger Alphonso Davies is fully fit and on track to start his country’s World Cup opener against Belgium on Wednesday night. after he recovered from a right hamstring strain.
“Canada is now in a position where we can field our strongest team,” coach John Herdman said Tuesday on the eve of his nation’s first World Cup match since 1986. “These are exciting times for us. Now the dark clouds have moved.”
Davies, 22, was injured while playing for Bayern Munich on November 5.. He has 12 goals in 34 international appearances, including five World Cup goals. Qualification.
“He was clear that he wanted to play,” Herdman said. “I think our medical team also wanted him to play. But you just have to go through the math algorithms that are presented to you to get it up to top speed and he did it, so he was brilliant.
“And he’s been in full training and he’s got this big smile on his face, which is great.”
Herdman said goalkeeper Milan Borjan was expected to return to training on Tuesday after feeling an abdominal problem in Thursday’s 2-1 friendly win over Japan.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup Y https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
