CARSON, Calif. -- You never know who you're going to run into in Los Angeles. So when former Dutch international Edgar Davids showed up on the training field at The Home Depot Center in Carson, it wasn't too surprising.
Considering the most famous soccer star on the planet, David Beckham, resides in Los Angeles, you'd think that the wow factor would be lost on the Galaxy roster. That isn't always the case when you're dealing with a player that has won the UEFA Champions League and captained the Dutch national team.
"It took a while to sink it and realize it was him," said Edson Buddle. "I brought my camera today and took my picture, so I'm happy about that. It took me off-guard."
The Dutchman is currently on vacation in California and called up Galaxy head coach and fellow countryman, Ruud Gullit, to see if he could join the team in training this week. Gullit didn't hesitate to extend an invitation to Davids, who is looking to stay in shape this offseason.
"(Davids) was here yesterday. This is his last day here," said Gullit at Tuesday's training session. "He needs to stay in shape and keep in form for having a future still in Europe."
Davids spent last season with Ajax in the Eredivisie, but is currently out of contract. Last season, Davids came close to signing with FC Dallas as their designated player before the deal fell through. Looking over the Galaxy's roster, it's very unlikely that Davids is going to be joining the squad, but his impact in just a couple of days of training has been massive.
"It's pretty crazy. I don't know too many soccer players, but I know the big ones," said rookie Sean Franklin. "He's helping us a lot, talking about our team and keeping our shape. He's already made an impact."
Of course in addition to handing out pearls of wisdom, Davids brings another element to training, and that's his competitiveness. Nicknamed "The Pitbull" for his relentlessness and aggressive work rate in midfield, Davids has definitely inspired some of the guys on the Galaxy to elevate their games a bit.
While his stay with the Galaxy was very brief, Davids certainly made an impression on a relatively young Galaxy squad. Having world-class players to compete against in training will only serve the Galaxy's youth well moving forward, and will help the entire team grow and improve.
"You size him up first. Then you look at yourself and see what you need to do," said Buddle. "To play at that level, the sport there is a lot bigger, with a lot of history."
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