Alphonso Davies has won the Golden Boot as the top scorer at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Young Player Award as the tournament’s most promising player.
The 16-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder, who was also named to the tournament Best XI, scored three goals in four matches, helping the Canadian men’s national team reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009.
Jordan Morris (USA) and Kévin Parsemain (Martinique) also had three goals but neither of the three players had an assist and Davies played the fewest minutes, which was the second – and in this case – decisive tiebreaker for the Golden Boot.
Davies opened the competition with a bang on July 7, scoring two goals – including the game-winner – in a 4-2 victory over French Guiana. With the goals, Davies became the youngest goalscorer in Canadian men's national team and Gold Cup history, as well as the first 2000-born player to score in any full national team tournament worldwide.
Then, Davies added a third tally the following match in a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica.
GOL Canadá, Alphonso DAVIES No. 12 | @FEDEFUTBOL_CR@CanadaSoccerEN#CopaOro2017pic.twitter.com/TZivuV56q7
— CONCACAF (@CONCACAF) July 12, 2017
Davies becomes the second Canadian to win the Gold Cup Golden Boot, joining former ‘Caps striker Carlo Corazzin who led Canada to their first-ever Gold Cup title with four goals in 2000.
A resident of Edmonton, Alberta who joined the Whitecaps FC Residency program in 2015, Davies has made 35 career appearances with the Whitecaps FC first team since debuting in last year's Canadian Championship, scoring four goals in all competitions.
Davies was born in Buduburam, a refugee camp in Gomoa East District in the central region of Ghana, to Liberian parents who took refuge in Ghana after fleeing the Liberian civil war. When Davies was five years old, his family moved to Windsor, Ontario in 2006 before settling in Edmonton one year later. The youngster just received his Canadian citizenship last month.
