Watching the Gold Cup the last couple of days, you feel a bit like Scooter Braun accidentally clicking on a YouTube video of a tween musician.
Not since Justin Bieber was discovered at age 12 in 2007 has Canada had such a precocious young star in the making. Alphonso Davies may have only become a Canadian in the last couple months, but if he keeps scoring at this rate, he’ll soar to Bieber-esque heights.
Davies scored the opener in Canada’s 1-1 draw with Costa Rica on Tuesday, the 16-year-old’s third goal in two Gold Cup matches.
On Friday, Davies became the first player born in the 2000s to score at a major international tournament, finding net twice in a 4-2 win over French Guiana. He became Canada’s youngest goal scorer ever.
Born in a Ghanaian refugee camp to Liberian parents, Davis became eligible to play for Canada earlier this year and had one cap coming into the tournament.
His goal Tuesday came after he shed his marker to reach a far-post cross in the 26th minute. Enjoy the highlight, even though Davies is still three years away from being able to imbibe the sponsor of the highlight in Canada:
16 years old. 2 games. 3 goals.#CAN's Alphonso Davies is CRUSHING #GoldCup2017. @ModeloUSA #ModeloSoccer https://t.co/SBcDTWoTNA
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 12, 2017
Not many people saw the effort in person, however, with a late-arriving crowd at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
Plenty of empty seats in Houston. Photo: @BBVACompassStdm | Twitter
Davies’ goal gave Canada the lead for 15 minutes. Costa Rica’s Francisco Calvo, who played junior college ball at nearby San Jacinto College, headed home a corner kick to punish some abysmal defending from Canada.
Bad defending was a theme for Canada, which held onto the 1-1 draw thanks mostly to the heroics of Canadian goalie Milan Borjan, who did his best Andre Blake impression to keep Canada in the game.
Poor Borjan was constantly under pressure and made nine saves, nine more than Costa Rican goalie Patrick Pemberton, filling in for Real Madrid's Keylor Navas.
Unfortunately, Davies was subbed out in the 69th minute with an apparent injury, denying a chance to score a winner as he did Friday.
The question now is what Davies does with his obvious potential. One hopes he doesn’t flame out like a certain Toronto mayor.
Does he become the Canadian Messi or the Canadian Adu?
Or more precisely: Does he become the next Michael J. Fox or Keanu Reeves? Phil Hartman or Tom Green? The next Justin Bieber or Chad Kroeger?
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