Canada head coach Jesse Marsch said Saturday that captain Alphonso Davies is "ready to go" for his team's first-ever World Cup knockout match against South Africa.
Davies has yet to feature in the tournament due to a lingering hamstring injury.
"He's ready to go. We're excited to have our captain and best player back," Marsch told Matthew Scianitti of TSN. "He's looked really good for a couple of weeks and we're ready for tomorrow. I think it's going to be a big boost for our team."
Pressed on Davies' status for Sunday's last-32 matchup, Marsch said the Bayern Munich star will play at SoFi Stadium.
Marsch admitted that Davies was used as a "decoy" during the group stage. He and the team were "fairly certain early on" that playing in the group phase was unlikely after Davies sustained his latest setback in early May, Marsch told reporters during a press conference Saturday.
The coach and star player discussed the decoy plan at that point, and both agreed that Canada could gain an edge during the group stage by forcing the opposition to prepare for the possibility that Davies could be on the pitch.
Davies, who admitted it was "painful" not being able to play on home soil for the group stage, said that Canada Soccer and Bayern Munich jointly came up with a plan for his recovery.
Marsch wouldn't confirm whether Davies will start Sunday's match or come off the bench - neither would he provide any indication of how many minutes Davies has been cleared for - but said his explosiveness from either left-back or in a more advanced midfield position will have a big impact.
"The effect that he'll have on the team being on the pitch ... changes the possibility for what the potential of our team is, and what we can do in this tournament," Marsch said.
Canada, which claimed its first-ever win at a men's World Cup during the group stage, finished second in Group B behind Switzerland to set up the meeting against South Africa.
The winner of Sunday's contest will play either the Netherlands or Morocco in the round of 16.
