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And, of course, there was soccer, a pull that took him away from Debeah and Victoria at age 15 after he was recruited to play for the Whitecaps development team. He lived with a billet family. He promised his mother he would work hard at school. Victoria wept when she said goodbye, and she weeps when she speaks of Canada now, where children like hers can go to school — for free — and where life can be a struggle, but at least it gets fought on each individual family’s terms.

On June 6, 2017, Alphonso Davies became a Canadian citizen. This was no small thing in soccer circles since, in bygone years, some of the great soccer talents actually born in Canada — think Calgary’s Owen Hargreaves — embraced the non-Canadian half of their identities (Hargreaves father was Welsh, his mother English) and bolted from the country of their birth instead of embracing the Canadian national team. But Davies, as a teen, has already scored three goals in six games for Canada. He represents soccer hope, for some, but also stands for something more.

Looking back at what my family did for me, keeping myself motivated is a little bit easier than usual

“Alphonso Davies is somebody that all our players can aspire to become,” national team coach John Herdman told the Edmonton Sun. “He underlines what Canada is.

“It is a country that accepts all.”

Indeed, it is, as dewy-eyed as it sounds. So when we speak of Alphonso Davies, and about the goals he might score and the riches he stands to make, what we’re really talking about is hope — and a mother and father’s dream of finding a better life for their kids.

“I’m proud of Alphonso,” Debeah Davies says in the documentary. “Because if I look back, where we came from, refugee camp — no food, no clothes — and here we are today.”

“He has everything he needs.”

And he has only just begun.

• Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites