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Edgar Davids

Edgar Steven Davids (born March 13, 1973 in Paramaribo, Suriname) is a Dutch professional football player. He plays in the defensive midfield position and is known for his hard work ethic. He has played for AFC Ajax, A.C. Milan, Juventus FC, FC Barcelona, Internazionale, Tottenham Hotspur and again for AFC Ajax.

Davids suffers from glaucoma, which requires him to wear protective goggles during football matches. His dreadlocked hair and distinctive goggles make Davids one of the most recognisable footballers of his generation. Davids is the uncle of current NEC Nijmegen midfielder Lorenzo Davids. Davids was one of the players chosen by Pelé to be featured in the FIFA 100, a compilation of the world's greatest living footballers.

Club career

He started his career at Ajax in 1991, making his debut on September 6 in a 5-1 home win over RKC Waalwijk. At his best, the Surinam-born Dutch international Edgar Davids was almost the complete midfield player, combining technique and tenacity with a surprisingly subtle touch. He helped the Amsterdam club to three domestic Eredivisie titles, as well as international success with the 1992 UEFA Cup and the 1995 Champions League. While at Ajax, he was nicknamed "the Pit bull" by Ajax manager Louis van Gaal, due to his fierce style of play and bite in the midfield.

He moved to Italy in 1996, to play for A.C. Milan. He didn't see much playing time at Milan, and moved on to league rivals Juventus FC in December 1997 for £5.3m. Six successful years in Turin followed, with Davids helping the side to the Serie A title in 1998, 2002 and 2003.Also Juve manager Marcello Lippi once described him as "my one-man engine room". On May 17, 2001, Davids was suspended by FIFA when he tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid, nandrolone.He was often inspirational in Europe, too, playing 15 times as the club made it all the way to the UEFA Champions League 2002-03 final before losing to AC Milan on penalties.

Davids joined Barcelona on loan in January 2004 as the Spanish club enjoyed a successful resurgence of form, finishing second to Valencia in the league. Then he permanently moved on to Italian club Internazionale on a three-year contract. When Internazionale terminated the remaining years of his contract in August 2005, he moved to England on a free transfer to play for Tottenham Hotspur. He is revered amongst Spurs fans for his commitment and honesty during his short yet productive Spurs career and has already stated his ambition to be part of the club in some way in the future.

He signed once more for Ajax on 28 January 2007 and played his first match against Ajax's rivals Feyenoord on February 4. After the mid-season switch, Davids proved his value for the Ajax team again. He was one of the key midfielders in the run for the Dutch championship, that was lost on one single goal to PSV Eindhoven on the final day of the league. He also played a major role in Ajax' cup campaign. He secured the KNVB Cup for Ajax by scoring the final penalty in a thrilling penalty shoot out against AZ.

Prior to the start of the 2007-08 season he suffered a broken leg in a pre-season friendly against Go Ahead Eagles, sidelining him for around 3 months. . In May 2008, Davids said he would leave Ajax when his contract expired on 30 June.

International career

Davids was an integral part of the Dutch national team, since his debut in April 1994, though he has not won any major tournaments in the orange jersey.

During Euro 96, he was sent home by then manager Guus Hiddink for saying in a radio interview: "Hiddink must take his head out of players' asses, so he can see better."

Nonetheless, Davids remained appreciated by Hiddink, who included him in the Dutch squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Davids' most notable performance for the national team came in the 1998 FIFA World Cup second round game against FR Yugoslavia. He scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game, and ensured that the Dutch team went through to the next round to meet Argentina. The Dutch national team eventually finished 4th overall, and Davids was named for the official FIFA "Team of the Tournament".

He played in Euro 2000 when he was named for the UEFA "Team of the Tournament". The Netherlands reached the semi-finals and played versus Italy in a thrilling game that ended up being decided with a penalty shootout.

UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Davids scored the Netherlands' first qualifying goal in their opening 3-0 victory against Belarus and subsequently bossed the midfield in five of the remaining seven Group 3 fixtures and both legs of the play-off defeat of Scotland.

After Euro 2004, new national team coach Marco van Basten appointed Davids as captain of the team. However, lack of first team football for his club Internazionale meant Davids also lost his place in the national team in October 2004, thus losing the captain's armband in the process. At the latter stages of the qualifying series for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in October 2005, he was re-called back into the national team, though not as captain. He fell out of the picture again shortly after, thereby missing out on the Dutch squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Honours

Domestic

Dutch Cup : 1993, 2007
Dutch Supercup : 1993, 1994, 1995, 2007
Dutch Eredivisie : 1994, 1995, 1996
Italian Serie A : 1998, 2002, 2003 Runner-up: 2000, 2001
Italian Super Cup : 2002, 2003 Runner-up: 1998
Italian Cup : 2005European
UEFA Cup : 1992*
Champions League : 1995 Runner-up : 1996, 1998, 2003
Intercontinental Cup : 1995
European Supercup : 1995

Career statistics

|- |1991-92||rowspan="5"|Ajax||rowspan="5"|Eredivisie||13||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||13||2 |- |1992-93||28||4||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||28||4 |- |1993-94||15||2||1||0||colspan="2"|-||16||2 |- |1994-95||22||5||2||0||colspan="2"|-||24||5 |- |1995-96||28||7||6||0||11||1||45||8 |- |1996-97||rowspan="2"|Milan||rowspan="2"|Serie A||15||0||colspan="2"|-||4||1||19||1 |- |1997-98||4||0||6||1||colspan="2"|-||10||1 |- |1997-98||rowspan="7"|Juventus||rowspan="7"|Serie A||20||1||9||1||5||0||34||2 |- |1998-99||27||2||6||1||9||0||42||3 |- |1999-00||27||1||11||2||4||0||42||3 |- |2000-01||26||1||4||0||5||0||35||1 |- |2001-02||28||2||2||0||9||0||39||2 |- |2002-03||26||1||colspan="2"|-||15||1||41||2 |- |2003-04||5||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0||10||0 |- |2003-04||Barcelona||La Liga||18||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||18||1 |- |2004-05||Internazionale Milano||Serie A||14||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0||19||0 |- |2005-06||rowspan="2"|Tottenham Hotspur||rowspan="2"|Premier League||31||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||31||1 |- |2006-07||9||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||10||0 |- |2006-07||rowspan="2"|Ajax||rowspan="2"|Eredivisie||12||1||3||0||colspan="2"|-|||15||1 |- |2007-08||18||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-|||18||0136||21||12||0||11||1||159||22192||8||38||5||56||2||286||1518||1||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||18||140||1||colspan="2"|-||1||0||41||1386||31||50||5||68||3||504||39 |}