Canada's Davies Ready for World Cup Knockout After Hamstring Recovery

Canada captain Alphonso Davies is ready to take the field in the World Cup knockout stage after recovering from a hamstring injury that sidelined him since early May.

Head coach Jesse Marsch confirmed Saturday that the 25-year-old left back will be available for Canada's round-of-32 game against South Africa in Los Angeles on Sunday. Davies suffered the hamstring injury playing for Bayern Munich in a Champions League semifinal and joined the national squad in Edmonton at the end of May, working with a personal trainer on return-to-play protocols before joining full team training.

Davies missed Canada's opening 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12 and was on the bench for the 6-0 victory over Qatar in Vancouver on June 18. Marsch initially said he expected Davies to play in Canada's group-stage finale against Switzerland in Vancouver on June 25, but did not bring him off the bench. Marsch later revealed he had used Davies as a "decoy" to disrupt Switzerland's preparation, a tactic he defended as competitive strategy. "This is not a friendly," Marsch said. "We're going to do whatever we can as a group to make sure that we can get an edge." Davies had reportedly requested to play against Switzerland, but Marsch declined. "It's been easy because we've had a plan," he said of the decision. "The only deviation to the plan is how I've communicated it with you guys."