The scenes at Lusail Stadium that followed Argentina’s FIFA World Cup Round of 16 victory against an ashen Dutch side seem to have made more headlines than the victory itself.
A match rife with controversy and violence, the fixture entailed countless yellow cards and the Dutch Dumfries being sent off in the final minutes of the first 90.
Even after the victory, Argentina’s ungodly behaviour towards their opponents along with the jeering and unsportsmanlike acts are the highlights of the night.
Even Argentinian skipper, Lionel Messi, could not stay out of trouble despite being known as one of the few football players that can maintain a cool head in heated situations.
In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Messi’s acts were probably more serious than his junior teammates after the match.
Per reports, right after the teams had to be yanked away from each other’s throats, the 35-year-old PSG star stomped his way toward the Dutch dugout and appeared to give the Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal an earful.
It is pertinent to note that after scoring his 73rd-minute penalty, Lionel Messi’s celebration was a taunt directed at the Netherlands’ dugout.
After the dust had settled, the Argentinian skipper even issued a statement regarding his behaviour, saying that he only directed his celebration toward the Dutch dugout and “confronted” Van Gaal after the match because of his grievances regarding disrespectful comments made by the losing team’s manager and players before and during the game.
However, for once, Van Gaal seemed entirely speechless during Messi’s tirade. Instead of him retorting, his assistant coach and Dutch legend Edgar Davids burst onto the scene.
While he made sure to confront Argentine number 10, people weren’t interested in what he had to say.
Instead, the looming question that took over the internet, all of a sudden, following the retired Dutchman’s aggression, was why Edgar Davids was wearing sunglasses during a match scheduled in the evening.
To understand that however, we must go back to 1999, when Davids controlled the defensive midfield for Juventus.
Prior to 1999, Davids was just a regular player who was known only for his performance on the pitch and his impressive dreadlocks. However, in 1999, the midfielder had to resort to wearing goggles during games and training because of a serious diagnosis.
He was suffering from glaucoma, which is, essentially, a chronic eye disease that causes nerve damage in the eye and a consequent loss of vision.
After being diagnosed halfway through 1999, the Juventus star was forced to undergo immediate surgery in order to prevent further damage to his eye and salvage whatever optic ability he had left.
It was only after the eye surgery that doctors advised Davids to protect his eyes by donning goggles during his games.
Ever since, Edgar Davids became known as the footballer that wears goggles, much like Petr Cech, who became famous because of his iconic face shield.
The Juventus star, thanks to the successful surgery and the use of goggles on the pitch, regardless of how unconventional it looked at the time, went on to play for top clubs such as Barcelona, Inter, Tottenham, Ajax and Crystal Palace and only hung up his boots at the ripe old age of 37 years.
The Dutchman, admired by Louis Van Gaal, and in fact, monikered ‘the Pitbull’ by the Netherlands boss during his playing days for his aggressive style of play, now assists him in his duties toward the national squad, and, apparently, does justice to the moniker conferred unto him.
