Alphonso Davies has yet to play a minute of soccer in 2022, and the timetable for his return to action is now in doubt after scans revealed heart inflammation following a recent bout with COVID-19, which will rule him out of Canada’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann confirmed the news to reporters on Friday, revealing that a recent scan uncovered inflammation in Davies’ heart that will require him to rest and miss an undetermined amount of time, and will keep him out of Canada’s upcoming qualifiers.
“Yesterday, during our follow-up examination that we do with ever player that has had Covid-19, we detected signs of mild myocarditis, i.e. an inflammation of the heart muscle,” Nagelsmann said. “He has stopped training for now, so he won’t be available to us for the next weeks.
“This myocarditis isn’t too dramatic based on the ultrasound, but more simply signs of an inflammation,” Nagelsmann added. “Nevertheless, it needs to heal and that will no doubt take some time.”
Just how much time remains to be seen, and while Nagelsmann didn’t give any specifics as far as timetable, the Canadian Soccer Federation confirmed on Friday that Davies will miss Canada’s upcoming qualifiers, on January 27 at Honduras, January 30 at home against the United States, and on February 2 at El Salvador.
Losing Davies is a major blow for the Canadians, who currently sit in first place in the Concacaf World Cup qualifying standings as they seek their first trip to the World Cup since 1986. Canada is still favored to qualify, but a pair of upcoming road qualifiers in Central America, coupled with a tough match-up against the U.S. men’s national team, could complicate things for John Herdman’s squad.
The Canadians aren’t lacking attacking options, even without Davies, who has been their most productive player throughout qualifying. Lille striker Jonathan David and Besiktas striker Cyle Larin give Herdman a pair of big threats at striker, while Tajon Buchanan has emerged as a very dangerous wing threat and recently completed his move to Club Brugge.
The Davies news comes as Canada is already dealing with Covid-related issues relating to the team’s preparations for upcoming qualifiers. Travel restrictions in Canada could force the team to hold its upcoming training camp in the United States, and there is some doubt over whether or not fans will be allowed to attend Canada’s upcoming qualifier against the USMNT.
The good news for the Canadians is they are in first place in Concacaf qualifying, currently one point ahead of the United States and two points ahead of Mexico and Panama.
The USMNT resumes World Cup qualifying on January 27 in Columbus, Ohio against El Salvador before traveling to Canada for their January 30 showdown. The Americans wrap up the upcoming qualifying window with a home match in Minnesota against Honduras.
It is an autoimmune response, something you want to have happen….well you would prefer not to need a response, but thats not what happened.
Nobody said anything about a vaccine, so not sure what agenda TK has.
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People that dont have a response happen strong enough are dying in massive quanities, daily. You would think his heart could take it for sure.
Hope he recovers soon, he is joy to watch. Helps the US for sure, but will miss him playing.
TK is referring to Johny Dough’s comment further down. JD referenced a former player who wants an investigation. La Tissier is a know Covid and Vaccine conspiracy theorist and not a doctor or scientist. He also apparently was known as a slightly above average footballer who was known for his low work rate and his wasted potential.
JRaz,
Whatever his views on the vaccine, they have nothing to do with the fact that LeTissier was a lot more than “a slightly above average footballer”.
He was a hell of a football player. Covid and the vaccine have nothing to do with that.
Give credit where credit is due. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo is an accused rapist but him allegedly being of perhaps questionable moral fiber does not detract from the fact that he is a legendary player.
Investigation? Its listed as a side effect. What are they going to investigate? The drug company didn’t lie?
Was he vaccinated?
Sad! Hope He gets well soon. Has anybody else been tracking the many many soccer players developing myocarditis and or having breathing chest pains in the last few months. Aguero, Oisin Fields , John fleck and many more. Former England international Matthew Le Tissier has called for an investigation into this. On a side note, Myocarditis is listed as a side effect from the corona vaccine.
Yeah, it’s also a side effect of COVID…and is far more prevalent among COVID cases than vaxed people. My son’s D1 football player – and a former soccer player – and one reason the B1G decided to postpone the 2020 season and almost didn’t have it is they had three cases of COVID-related heart problems early among football players who had gotten COVID and almost scrapped the season for liability concerns. (This was well before the vax was generally available.) My own son got COVID in early 2020, had a fairly severe case, almost wound up in the hospital…and ended up having to have an EKG before he was cleared to play. Fortunately his came back clean.
So thank goodness the vaccine stops people from getting Covid…. Oh wait…
Kissinger,
No one ever said the vaccine stops you from getting covid.
Vaccine’s are never 100% effective, in part because everyone is just a bit different.
But vaccines will reduce the chances that you will get it Covid.
And if you should get it or it’s varients, it will help reduce the severity meaning you have a better chance of staying out of the hospital. It might even keep you from dying a fairly painful death.
With all that you could get vaccinated up the wazoo and still die. Think of it this way, odds were that Panama should not have beaten the USMNT but they did anyway. Shit happens.
Kissinger, if you take any kind of medication for any reason, try reading the fine print sometime with someone who can help you understand it.
Do that and if you’re put off by the potential side effects of Covid vaccines , then you’ll probably never take any medication of any kind ever again.
If you don’t like the risks of getting the vaccines, don’t get them. No one is stopping you from not doing something.
Approx 40 per million likelihood of myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias from Covid, between 1-10 per million from Pfizer/Moderna vaccines. Probably important to include more info.
Bummer about Davies, going toe to toe with their best would be ideal.
Except you are far more likely to develop it from contracting Covid than from the vaccine. The severity of the myocarditis is also more likely to be higher from Covid than the vaccine. There are risks to every vaccine, but those risks pale in comparison to actually getting things like polio, small pox, yellow fever, or Covid 19. That’s not politics it’s science.
I really hate Covid