KEY POINTS:
Sport brings together the entire catalogue of personalities from the eccentric to the effusive, arrogant to the amiable. Edgar Davids covers off a large number of personality traits all by himself.
'Weird' and 'difficult' are two that spring to mind after a brief encounter with the Dutch footballer. Perhaps even weirdly difficult.
Davids is one of the most recognisable figures in world football - behind David Beckham, of course - because of his dreadlocked hair and the protective goggles he wears while playing because of glaucoma.
His achievements are many: capped 74 times by the Netherlands and a long and illustrious club career that included stints at Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur.
It was why the Oceania Football Confederation worked so hard to recruit the 35-year-old to play against David Beckham's LA Galaxy at Mt Smart Stadium last night. He put the star into Oceania All Stars.
But for all his talents on the field he is an enigma off it. A brush with the weird is experienced during a 10-minute interview.
Some of his answers border on the philosophical. He doesn't quite rival Eric Cantona, who famously said, "when the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea," in reference to the interest the English media took in him. But he gives it a go.
When asked whether his reputation as an aggressive player was a fair one, Davids replied with this insightful gem: "It is what you want to see."
When asked if he ever reflected on what he achieved, he said: "No. That's the past. I live in the future. I live now... I think that is more important than looking back at the past. It's like spilled water. It's done. You can't pick it up."
Indeed. And there's no use crying over spilled water.
Davids did his share of bawling, figuratively speaking, during his time in Auckland.
Just hours after arriving, he was none too happy at having missed out on sitting at the top table during the David Beckham press conference last Thursday. He had arrived at the conference late, only to find Ivan Vicelich had come off the substitutes' bench at the last minute.
He was then at his elusive best at training later that day. He was the only one to wear something other than the blue team issue training gear, finished early to do his own training in the Warriors' gym, wouldn't travel on the team bus back to the hotel and left a small collection of waiting media and Oceania representatives with no idea whether he would grant an interview.
The David Beckham Travelling Circus wasn't the only show in town last week, even though Davids thought at one time that he was in Australia.
Davids did agree to talk. Eventually. But only on his terms.
When the topic of his glaucoma and how it might have affected his career was touched on, he threatened to leave. When the subject of the country of birth, Surinam, was raised, he did leave.
Davids is well known for being a temperamental figure, particularly whenever he teamed up with the Dutch side. During Euro '96, he was sent home by then manager Guus Hiddink for saying in a radio interview: "Hiddink must take his head out of players' asses, so he can see better." Perhaps he could have lent Hiddink his glasses instead.
He also clashed at various times with Netherlands team-mates Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark van Bommel. He was embraced back into the fold come the 1998 World Cup.
He was simply too good to overlook and his exploits in helping the Dutch finish fourth saw him picked in the Team of the Tournament.
He was also chosen for the Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament and Pele selected him for the Fifa 100, a compilation of the world's greatest living footballers.
At his best, there were few better defensive midfielders in the world than Davids, who combined technique and tenacity in equal measure.
During his first stint with Ajax, he was nicknamed The Pitbull by manager Louis van Gaal because of his bite in midfield. Juventus boss Marcello Lippi once described him as "my one-man engine room".
What was often overlooked, however, was just how skilful he was; how good at unlocking opposition defences. As Davids would say, it is what you want to see.
Doubt surrounds his future in the game. He is currently without a club after his contract with Ajax wasn't renewed at the end of the last European season, although he says he has "many offers" but would "only go for something I think suits me".
Last month, he expressed his desire to play for Brazilian club Flamengo and that he saw his career being extended two or three more seasons. "I'm still not finished," he reiterated last week.
Davids, though, undoubtedly has an eye on the future and it doesn't involve football.
"I am planning for things in the future that I think are more important," he says. "The things I have enjoyed, I want to contribute back to people who are less fortunate. That's a better step than football. It's bigger than football."
With that, he exits stage left to leave behind some bewildered faces.
It's said sport needs more characters. Davids is certainly one of those.
