TORONTO — Most teen phenoms want to live as normal a life as possible, and Alphonso Davies is no different.
The 16-year-old star of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Canadian national team burst onto the scene over the past 12 months thanks to a combination of skill, power and confidence, but a quick chat with Davies will confirm that he's still just a kid who likes to "do normal kids things."
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"I hang out with my friends, play FIFA a lot," Davies told reporters on Thursday when asked what he does to keep grounded despite the growing hype around him after a breakout performance for Canada at last month's CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Like many teenagers, Davies considers himself a master of the popular FIFA series of video games. He's not shy to let his Canada teammates know it, either.
"I would say I'm the best in camp, yes," Davies said of his gaming skills versus his older compatriots.
And now that Davies is nearing the end of his first full season as a professional, he'll soon be able to play as himself when the newest edition of FIFA is released worldwide at the end of September.
"It'll be great," he said. "Playing as myself at FIFA, that's what I've been dreaming about when I was little so it's gonna be amazing."
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But while there's definitely a playful side to his personality that synonymous with youth, there's also a competitiveness that is clearly evident. Davies speaks of "looking for revenge" in Canada's upcoming friendly against Jamaica on Saturday in Toronto, which is the first meeting between the countries since the Caribbeans eliminated Davies and his teammates from the Gold Cup at the quarterfinal stage in a hotly contested match.
"After losing to them, everybody was devastated," Davies said. "We couldn't believe we came such a long way and ended it there, so for most of the players this is a 'get another one' kind of game."
While it's just a friendly, the rosters for both sides feature many of the same players that competed in that decisive Gold Cup clash. For Davies, Jamaica represents another step up in a whirlwind year in which he has come up against some of the best and brightest from throughout the region.
"They're a really good, strong, fast team," Davies said. "You can't really beat them in pace because they're really fast, so we try to move the ball as much as we can [and] try to tire them out by passing the ball."
"They tackle hard," he added. "They wanted that [Gold Cup] game. Coming into the game [on Saturday] we have to match their intensity."