Edgar Davids participant in UEFA Euro 1996
International career
Davids made his debut for the Netherlands national team on 20 April 1994 in Tilburg, in a 1–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland. He quickly became an integral part of the squad for the next decade, though he failed to win any major tournaments for the Oranje.
During 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 second round match 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 Netherlands eventually finished fourth overall and Davids was named to the official FIFA "Team of the Tournament".
In 1999, Davids began wearing protective glasses following surgery in his right eye caused by glaucoma, which developed in 1995 following eye injuries. Davids first wore them on 4 September 1999 in a friendly match against Belgium. On 17 May 2001, Davids was suspended by FIFA when he tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid, nandrolone.Davids played in Euro 2000, where the Netherlands reached the semi-finals before losing to Italy via penalty shootout. Davids was again named as part of the "Team of the Tournament".
During the Netherlands' Euro 2004 qualifying matches, Davids scored the Netherlands' first qualifying goal in their opening 3–0 victory against Belarus, and subsequently played 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 Davids as captain of the team. However, lack of first team football at his club Inter meant Davids lost his place in the national team in October 2004, thus losing the captain's armband in the process, which was later handed to goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. In October 2005, during the latter stages of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, Davids was recalled to 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 World Cup.
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