International Career
Davids was an integral part of the Dutch national team since his debut on 20 April 1994 in Tilburg against Ireland (0–1), though he has not won any major tournaments for the Oranje.
During the UEFA Euro 1996, he was sent home by then manager Guus Hiddink for saying in a radio interview: "Hiddink should stop putting his head in some players' asses."
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 to the official FIFA "Team of the Tournament".
Davids played in the UEFA Euro 2000 when he was named for the UEFA "Team of the Tournament". The Netherlands reached the semi-finals and played against Italy in a thrilling game that ended up being decided with a penalty shootout.
During the Netherlands' UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying matches, 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 victory against Scotland.
After Euro 2004, new national team coach Marco van Basten appointed Edgar Davids as captain of the team. However, lack of first team football at his club Inter meant Davids also lost his place in the national team in October 2004, thus losing the captain's armband in the process, which was later handed to Edwin van der Sar. 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 World Cup.
Davids was selected to appear on the cover of the football game FIFA Football 2003 alongside Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs and Brazilian international Roberto Carlos.
Read more about this topic: Edgar Davids
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