By Steve Keating
DOHA (Reuters) – Canada will be without Alphonso Davies when they take on Japan in a final World Cup tuneup, coach John Herdman said on Wednesday, as they wait for a clean bill of health for the dynamic forward from his club Bayern Munich.
When Davies was helped off the field during a Bundesliga game in early November with a hamstring strain it left Canadians holding their collective breath.
Fears that Davies might miss the World Cup have since subsided but the 22-year-old has yet to join the team who open the tournament next Wednesday against second-ranked Belgium.
“Phonzie (Davies) is still not with the team,” said Herdman, on a conference call ahead of Thursday’s friendly with Japan in Dubai. “He didn’t travel into this match and we’re still waiting for his final assessment, final release from Bayern Munich.”
Back at the World Cup for the first time since 1986, Canada have been hit by a rash of injuries that have left Herdman on edge as he balances the need to get his squad playing time against picking up more fitness concerns.
Herdman was reminded of how quickly misfortune can strike when from out of the blue Doneil Henry sustained an injury in the warmup for Friday’s friendly against Bahrain that ruled the veteran out of the World Cup.
Canada had earlier lost defender Scott Kennedy to a shoulder issue and goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who suffered a broken leg in the MLS Cup final.
“A lot is going through my mind,” Herdman said. “It is a bit of nervous period of time where you know you have to bring the team together to play a good level team, with good intensity.
“Prior to an opening game you need to get into that international match rhythm.
“So you’re going to have to put something out there and invest but we have to be smart as well.
“The football gods will make some decisions and that’s up to them but we’re controlling through our sports science and medicine just to make sure we don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
With Herdman’s full squad together for the first time, Japan, who begin their World Cup campaign on Wednesday against Germany, represent a valuable opportunity to bond against a quality opponent.
“There are a lot of threats that come from Japan,” said Herdman. “It is a real good test because when you look at Belgium and Croatia their movement is at the highest level and I think Japan is up there.
“They may lack that little bit of quality that maybe Belgium has in the attack but it certainly made up by their attacking coordination.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Doha, Editing by Ed Osmond)
