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    Bayern Munich Champions League hero Alphonso Davies was born in a refugee camp, fled to Canada before becoming a star

    FROM a refugee camp to the Champions League within the space of two decades – jet-heeled Alphonso Davies has one incredible story to tell.
    The 19-year-old Canadian flying winger joined Bayern Munich for £17million in January, 2019 from Vancouver Whitecaps, the biggest fee ever paid for an MLS player.

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    Alphonso Davies has overcome the toughest of upbringings to become a star at Bayern

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    Davies was in devastating form in the 8-2 rout of BarcelonaCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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    Davies earned the respect of Lionel Messi with his performanceCredit: Manu Fernandez
    And in the past year, he has showed it was money well spent as he blossomed into, arguably, the best left-back in the world.
    In Bayern’s 8-2 destruction of Barcelona, who rejected him as a youngster, in last week’s Champions League quarter-final tie, Davies tore a shred out of experience Portuguese international Nelson Semedo to set up the Germans’ fifith goal.
    He also devastating in his side’s 3-0 win over Chelsea in the Champions League back in February.
    The lightning winger-turned-full-back was sensational at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea could not get near him.

    Bayern team-mate Thomas Muller said: “He’s learnt a lot since he’s been here. It was a world class performance.”
    And former Munich and England star Owen Hargreaves said: “What an athlete he is. He’s a winger, he’s played as a full-back this season, and he’s been absolutely outrageous.”
    It has been an amazing journey, as he was born in a refugee camp in Ghana in 2000.

    It was hard to live there because the only way you survive sometimes is you have to carry guns, too. And we didn’t have any interest in shooting guns
    Father Debeah Davies

    WAR-TORN BEGINNINGS
    When the Second Liberian Civil War started, his parents Victoria and Debeah Davies fled their homeland.

    “You had to cross over bodies to go and find food,” his mother Victoria said.
    “It was hard, it was dangerous,” father Debeah said.
    “It was hard to live there because the only way you survive sometimes is you have to carry guns, too. And we didn’t have any interest in shooting guns.”
    They travelled hundreds of miles across West Africa, eventually finding sanctuary in a refugee camp at Buduburam in the Gomoa East District of Ghana.

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    Alphonso Davies terrorised Chelsea’s Reece JamesCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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    Buduburam Refugee Camp, east of Accra, where Alphonso Davies was bornCredit: AFP – Getty

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    Alphonso Davies is a sublime athleteCredit: Rex Features

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    Alphonso Davies made his debut for Canada aged 16 shortly after gaining citizenship

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    Alphonso Davies was too much for Chelsea to handleCredit: Getty Images – Getty
    Their eldest child Alphonso was born on November 2, 2000, and he spent the first five years of his life in the camp.
    Eventually they passed an interview for a resettlement programme and settled in Edmonton, Canada.
    HE DISCOVERED FOOTBALL
    Alphonso enrolled in the Free Footie programme – an after-school initiative for inner-city kids who cannot afford registration fees or transportation to games.
    He was spotted by the Whitecaps, and four years ago, at the age of just 15, Davies was handed his professional debut for reserve team Whitecaps FC 2.
    A month later he scored his first senior goal.

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    Alphonso Davies’ style has been likened to that of Gareth BaleCredit: USA TODAY Sports

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    Alphonso Davies scored against French Guiana, and has five goals already for CanadaCredit: AFP or licensors
    Later that summer, former Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson took the punt and gave Davies his first taste of top-flight football, making him the second youngest MLS player after Freddy Adu.
    ‘HE CAN RUN ALL DAY’
    Robinson, 41, a former Wolves, Sunderland and Norwich midfielder, now in charge of A-League side Newcastle Jets, said: “Alphonso has all the attributes you want top players to have: he’s 6ft 1in, he’s an athlete, he can run all day, he has phenomenal pace.

    He was very skinny and slight but once he beat one or two players other coaches saw the same potential I saw in him
    Former coach Carl Robinson

    “What he needs to work on is the fact he does the really hard things well and yet he sometimes messes up the simple things. But that’s down to concentration.
    “I wanted to get him in the first-team environment because I saw him as this energetic, hungry player, who could cope with men but had to be taught sooner rather than later.
    “I have always been sick of stories of players who have talent but were not given the chance.
    “He was very skinny and slight but once he beat one or two players other coaches saw the same potential I saw in him.

    “Remember, he was still a young boy, he liked going out for ice cream, playing on his PlayStation until 2am. Which, of course, is not ideal for being a pro footballer.
    “But I tried to find a balance between letting him being a boy and going through and learning his own mistakes.

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    Carl Robinson is the former head coach of the Vancouver WhitecapsCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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    Alphonso Davies celebrates scoring against the San Jose EarthquakesCredit: AP:Associated Press
    “He’s a brilliant person. He likes to dance and sing.
    “He is a proper human being. His mum and dad deserve a lot of credit for bringing him up the right way.”
    In 2018, Davies received Canadian citizenship.
    Once the formalities were agreed, he became, at the age of 16, the youngest player to represent the Canada men’s national team.
    JUST LIKE GARETH BALE
    Several Premier League clubs showed interest in Davies, notably Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, but the Bayern offer proved too lucrative to turn down.
    Robinson, a former Wales international, said: “Alphonso has the mentality of Robbie Keane, who played with an edge, didn’t care about anybody when he came through at 15.
    “But his characteristics are like Gareth Bale.

    “I worked with Gareth at Wales, and I would say Alphonso is around the same level.
    “Alphonso moved to a big club at 17; Gareth didn’t get his chance until later.
    “But they are very similar and I liken them to each other.
    “His incredible story is the reason why you play this game.
    “He has proved dreams do come true.”

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    The £17m fee for Davies is the highest ever paid for an MLS playerCredit: USA TODAY Sports

    Alphonso Davies pens new Bayern Munich contract until 2025 More

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    Man City teen Tommy Doyle follows in the footsteps of grandads club legends Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe in making debut

    AS he high-fived Riyad Mahrez and ran onto the pitch, Tommy Doyle followed a family tradition.
    The 18-year-old midfielder made his Premier League debut for Manchester City in their 5-0 rout of Newcastle on Wednesday – just like his grandads did before him.

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    Tommy Doyle, 18, has followed in the footsteps of his grandads by playing for Man CityCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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    Pep Guardiola gives Tommy Doyle his instructions before he makes his debutCredit: Reuters
    ‘ONE OF THEIR OWN’
    The teen sensation showed some impressive touches during his 15-minute cameo, and looks nailed on to become an absolute superstar.
    Amidst the galaxy of superstars at the Etihad, it is easy to overlook the other side of the coin…how increasingly difficult it has got for homegrown talent to break through.
    With the sale of Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich and David Silva retiring at the end of this campaign, there will be a window of opportunity for others to impress.
    But if there is a downside, it is the lack of a locally produced presence that winds up City fans.

    Because let’s face it, as much as the supporters love seeing the best in the business, nothing gets them going like “one of our own.”
    They have had a glimpse of the future with Phil Foden, who burst onto the scene when he inspired England’s Under 17 World Cup triumph.

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    Doyle has starred for Man City at youth levelCredit: Getty – Contributor

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    Glyn Pardoe during his City daysCredit: PA:Press Association
    Yet as magnificent as young Foden is going to be, there is another City starlet bubbling just below who those in the know at the Etihad reckon could ultimately be even better.
    That youngster is Tommy. The boy whose grandparents – Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe – are both City legends.

    Tommy is the child of the late Mike Doyle’s son Scott and Pardoe’s daughter Charlotte, who met when they were toddlers and their dads were team-mates.
    Hence that derby-winning pedigree from earlier.
    The 2020 Doyle is just 18, but is already a regular in the City youth ranks and rated by many wise heads as the closest thing to Steven Gerrard since, well, Steven Gerrard.

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    City fans pay tribute to Mike Doyle in 2015Credit: Getty Images – Getty

    Glyn Pardoe

    Age: 71
    380 games, 22 goals for Man City 1962-1976
    Centre-forward who reinvented himself into a full back
    Broke his leg tackling George Best in 1970

    Many youth coaches insist the teenager is far and away the best midfielder of his age in the country.
    Two-footed, great balance, a great attitude, an even greater will to win…this kid has got the lot.
    He invariably sees a pass ahead of anyone else on the field, he is aggressive when needed, but equally a calming influence – in short, a leader way above his tender years.
    That’s one of the reasons he hasn’t just skippered England at his own age level, but also a year above.
    One interesting anecdote comes from when Wayne Rooney took son Kai to train at the City Football Academy, and young Tommy was sent to greet the pair.

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    Doyle pictured in his City colours during the 1977/78 seasonCredit: Getty – Contributor

    Mike Doyle

    Died 2011, aged 64
    570 games, 41 goals for Man City 1965-1978
    Defender capped five times for England
    Captained City to League Cup victory in 1976

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    Compared to Steven Gerrard, Doyle looks to have a bright futureCredit: Reuters
    As he shook hands with the then United hero, he introduced himself and said his name. Rooney replied: “I know who you are…we all do.”
    Such was the renown of Tommy even then – and that was back in 2016.
    And now he’s broken into the City senior side, the sky is the limit.

    Don’t forget the name, this young man is heading right to the top. He won’t be Glyn Pardoe’s grandson for too many years.
    Before long, it will be Pardoe who is proudly telling everybody “I’m Tommy Doyle’s granddad!” More

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    Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies was born in a refugee camp, fled to Canada before becoming star in German football

    FROM a refugee camp to the Champions League within the space of two decades – jet-heeled Alphonso Davies has one incredible story to tell. The 19-year-old Canadian flying winger joined Bayern Munich for £17million in January, 2019 from Vancouver Whitecaps, the biggest fee ever paid for an MLS player. Alphonso Davies has overcome the toughest […] More

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