Alphonso Davies Prioritizes Honeymoon Over Friendlies
Alphonso Davies has swapped a Canada training camp for a Paris honeymoon – and his national team coach is fully behind it.
Between the World Cup and the start of Bayern Munich’s pre-season, the 25-year-old married Sheyenne Jen in the French capital on 23 July. The couple now plan to mark the occasion with a trip together, and Canada’s captain will skip the three upcoming friendlies against Chile, Peru and the USA.
This is not a case of a star going rogue. Jesse Marsch stressed the decision came after open talks.
“We talked about whether he should spend half of the training camp on his honeymoon and then join us. But I simply felt that it was important for him to enjoy his honeymoon first and then continue working on his physical condition and form,” the Canada coach explained.
A body pushed to the limit
Davies’ absence comes with heavy context. At the start of 2025, he tore his cruciate ligament while on duty for Canada and spent three quarters of the year out. When he finally returned, the problems did not stop. Recurring health issues followed, capped by a muscle fibre tear that ruled him out of Bayern’s run-in last season.
The timing was brutal. At a long-awaited home World Cup, Canada’s talisman managed just 16 minutes.
Back in Munich, he initially trained alone as he tried to shake off the lingering effects of injury. The rebuild took time. Then the old Davies began to reappear.
He has recently hit stride again for Bayern, capped by a sharp, confident finish in a 5-0 win over FK Bodö/Glimt – the sort of goal that signals more than just a number on a scoresheet. It suggested rhythm, trust in the body, that explosive first step returning.
Marsch banks on a fresher captain
Marsch sees that resurgence and wants to protect it.
“He is playing really well, looks very fit and feels very good,” the coach said. “That is why we wanted to make sure in every respect that in November, when we need him for some important matches, and then in March as well as throughout the entire next cycle, he is so well prepared in every respect that he can always fully commit himself to what we expect from him for the national team.”
So Canada will go into those friendlies without their captain, betting that a fully reset Davies in November is worth more than a half-present version in September.
Bayern first, Canada later
For now, the left-back’s immediate focus lies in Munich. Bayern face Union Berlin at home on Friday, before a gap in the schedule until 10 October, when they travel to Augsburg.
That window gives Davies something he has rarely enjoyed in recent years: space. Time to let the honeymoon breathe, to let the body settle, and to arrive for Canada’s next decisive stretch as the player his country believes can carry an entire cycle.
