EACH MATCHDAY, ANDY GREEVES LOOKS BACK ON A NOTABLE
GOAL FROM OUR RICH HISTORY AND PROFILES ITS SCORER. THIS
EVENING, HE RECALLS EDGAR DAVIDS' ONE AND ONLY STRIKE IN OUR
COLOURS IN A VICTORY AT WIGAN ATHLETIC IN NOVEMBER 2005.
Golden
G*:al
idgar Davids celebrates hi:
>uperb solo strike at Wigar
Thomson
On3 August, 2005, weannouncedthesigning
of Dutch international Edgar Davids on
a free transfer from Internazionale. By
that stage in his career, the 32-year-
old midfielder had won 73 caps for the
Netherlands, representing them at the
1998 World Cup and three European Championships. He had
also played infour UEFA Champions League Finals, winning the
tournament with tonight's opponents Ajax in 1995.
Speakingatthe press conference to announce Davids'arrival,
then-manager Martin Jol heralded the midfielder as "one of
the most successful players of the last decade" adding that he
could bring"a winning mentality which you can only get through
experience" Jol also expressed his desire for Davids'acquisition
to inspire greater performances and results from his new team
on the road during the 2005/06 season. "Away from home we
have to do better and hopefully Edgar can help us," he said.
An away trip in which Davids most definitely inspired us to a
result was our2-l victory at WiganAthletic.TheLatics-in their
first season in the top flight of English football in 2005/06 - were
the shock success story in the early months of that campaign.
Ahead of our inaugural visit to the JJB Stadium (now known
as the DW Stadium), the Greater Manchester side were
second in the table, having won eight and drawn one of
their opening 12 Premier League fixtures.
Having made a bright start to the match, Robbie Keane
capitalised on a defensive error by Arjan De Zeeuw before
going on to round goalkeeper Mike Pollitt to give us an eighth-
minute lead. Davids and team-mate Michael Carrick "controlled
midfield" that day according to a match report in The Guardian
and helped restrict most ofWigan'sattackingeffortsto"hopeful
shots from long range".
Buoyed by the support of over 5,000 Spurs fans among
the 22,611 crowd, we sealed our victory 13 minutes from time.
Carrick played a neat pass from our own half into the feet of
Keane, near to the centre-circle. The Irishman's quick lay-off
was the cue for Davids to sprint upfield with the ball as he
swerved an attempted challenge from Stephane Henchoz in the
process. As he approached the Wigan penalty area, an excellent
run from Mido helped create a gap between Latics defenders
De Zeeuw and Leighton Baines. Davids moved into the space
before powering a shot underneath Pollitt for the one and only
goal of his Tottenham career.
Davids was pragmatic when questioned about his marvellous
solo-goal after the match. "Who scores does not matter, winning
does,"hesaid."ltisimportantforpeopletoplayfortheteam.lfyou
want to fit in you have got to work hard - and that is normal. For
me it is normal to be the leader. I have played in teams throughout
OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
VI
