Another Barca legend, Davids, due in Kampala
Davids was a combative midfielder who shone at the highest level with some of the most illustrious sides in world club football
What you need to know:
Soccer. At his peak, former Dutch international and Ajax, Juventus and FC Barcelona star Davids was arguably the world’s best defensive midfielder famed for his marking ability, aggressive tackling, industrious play and a thunderbolt of a shot
Kampala. Patrick Kluivert and Luis Garcia have all come and gone with a promise to leave an imprint on Ugandan football later in the year, when they return to feature for FC Barcelona legends in an exhibition match against the Uganda Cranes.
Next on the trail of ex-Barcelona players visiting Uganda is former Holland international Edgar Davids.
The player famously known as ‘Pitbull’ – a moniker he got form current Man United manager Louis Van Gaal because of his aggressive marking and tackling – will arrive in the first week of October to launch the Barcelona-Uganda Cranes match.
“He is excited to be coming to Kampala,” noted Rayco Garcia, the architect of the match, who is currently with Davids in China for the Lal Liga BBVA International Expansion project.
“He has heard of what Kluivert (Patrick) and Garcia (Luis) came for in Uganda and is eager to be part of the project.”
Davids, who was noted for his long dreadlocks and protective goggles he wore due to an eye condition called glaucoma, enjoyed a glorious club career. He honed his talent at Ajax Amsterdam under Van Gaal before joining AC Milan in 1996.
However, it was at Juventus, which he joined the following season, where he established himself as arguably the world’s best defensive midfielder in a quality side that featured Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Alessandro Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi.
Catalyst at Barca
After a seven year spell at Juventus, Davids joined Barcelona and his sign is viewed by analysts as the catalyst for the Catalan club’s dominance of Spanish and European football.
The box-to-box midfielder represented Netherlands 74 times at international level and scored six goals, the most notable one being an injury time pile driver against Yugoslavia at the 1998 World Cup in France that advanced the Dutch to the quarter finals.
Garcia meanwhile is convinced there is potential in Uganda to scale the heights of legends like Davids. “If I didn’t believe the talent was there, I would not be intensifying the academy project through the RG (Rayco Garcia) Foundation,” he reiterated.
Garcia, a former Barcelona trainee and Leeds United footballer who career was cut short by injury, will use proceeds of the collections from the Barca Legends-Uganda Cranes match to build a fully-fledged football academy of modern standards.
Last week he held a fundraising dinner, which Luis Garcia attended as the main guest, and raised Shs27.6m.
President Museveni, Uganda Tourism Board, the Insurance Company of East Africa and Nile Breweries have all committed themselves to back the historic December match.
Davids, Kluivert and Garcia will line up alongside Deco, Carlos Puyol and Gaizaka Mendieta for the game with another legendary Dutchman and one of the best players of all time Johan Cruyff coaching the team according to Rayco Garcia.
Cruyff is one of the trustees of the RG Foundation alongwith Kluivert, Garcia and 1998 World Cup winner Christian Karembeu.
