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Beyond the required marketing hype from the clubs and Canada Soccer, and the cries from the patriots to take this competition more seriously than any other, there is a rather obvious formula at play for the coaches involved in the Amway Canadian Championship.

They want to learn as much as they can about their next wave of talent while still winning a trophy.

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Easy to say — although it mostly goes unsaid. Much harder to pull off.

No player embodies this delicate balancing act more than Alphonso Davies, the Whitecaps’ 15-year-old winger/forward.

He is a special talent, to be sure, but does he give the Caps the best possible to chance to hoist the Voyaguers Cup at B.C. Place on Wednesday (7 p.m., TSN, TSN 1040)?

That would be a very difficult claim to defend, yet if Caps coach Carl Robinson again picks Davies for his starting lineup in this second-leg final he’ll be entirely justified in doing so.

Surely some of the same fans who crow about weakened lineups for this tournament are also griping about Canada’s inability to develop talent, without seeing the obvious connection between the two.