Davids: Messi is an anomaly

Edgar Davids’ proximity with winners of the world’s top footballer award goes a long way – long before he was invited to join the announcement of the finalists of the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015 last month. Over the course of his 23-year professional career, “the Pitbull” has played alongside a handful of players who have been crowned in FIFA’s yearly gala – starting with a cherished memory of Zinedine Zidane’s 1998 season.

“He won the award and a couple of days later he showed up at Juventus’ training camp with a gift for each member of the squad, including the kit manager, or the lady who helped us with administrative matters. I’ll never forget that. That’s Zidane,” he remembers.

The former Dutch international, now 42 years old, has shared the football pitch with the likes of FIFA World Player of the Year winners George Weah and Ronaldinho, and he discussed what it meant for two players to dominate the fight for the sport’s highest individual accolade in the way that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been doing since 2008. 

“It’s unbelievable what they have accomplished so far and still are accomplishing. I love Ronaldo, because he’s amazing: he works so hard. If Messi is not sharp he’s right there, prepared,” says Davids, whose favourite to be crowned at the Gala on 11 January in Zurich is quite clear, though. “If he’s fit, most of the time it’s Messi. But he is an anomaly. The rest will have to wait until he falls off a little bit.”

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