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Atiba Hutchinson has been a professional soccer player for nearly two decades. His first of 80 caps for the Canadian national team came back in 2003, and he’s been named the country’s player of the year a record six times. He’s played for some of the biggest teams in Europe, experienced the insanity of the Champions League, and for the past six years has written himself into the club annals as a fan favourite at Turkish giants Besiktas.

Undoubtedly, Hutchinson had seen it all before.

But he’d never seen a player like Alphonso Davies.

When the national team assembled for training prior to last month’s CONCACAF Nations League qualifying play against Saint Kitts and Nevis, the 35-year-old striker saw first-hand the quality Davies’ possess.

“I remember the first training session; we all said ‘My God. Wow,’” Canada coach John Herdman recounted earlier this month.

“Atiba says to me, ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ The kid’s just gotten off an airplane … and he’s dribbling through six players in a training session.”