Harvey Esajas

Harvey Esajas
Personal information
Full name Harvey Delano Esajas
Date of birth (1974-06-13) 13 June 1974
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
ASV Wartburgia
SC Buitenveldert
Ajax
Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Feyenoord 8 (1)
1996–1997 Groningen 9 (0)
1997–1998 Cambuur 0 (0)
1998–1999 Dordrecht'90 7 (0)
1999 Móstoles 10 (0)
1999–2000 Real Madrid B 0 (0)
2000 Zamora 20 (0)
2002–2003 Transvaal
2004–2005 Milan 0 (0)
2005–2006 Legnano 3 (0)
2006 Calcio Lecco 1 (0)
Total 58 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Harvey Delano Esajas (born 13 June 1974) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a defender.

Football career

Feyenoord / Eerste Divisie

Born in Amsterdam of Surinamese descent, Esajas made his debut in professional football in 1993–94 with Feyenoord, after spending his youth years in the football schools of R.S.C. Anderlecht and AFC Ajax. Prior to the start of the season, he was the key factor in the Helderse affaire: Feyenoord played a friendly match against an amateur side, the Helderse Selectie, and during the game he knocked down opponent Ronald Schouten, breaking his jaw but not being eventually suspended for his actions.

Esajas made his Eredivisie debut on 24 October 1993, against Ajax, and managed to score in one of the most prestigious clash in the Netherlands, in a 2–2 away draw. Despite this promising start he did not make it as a regular in Feyenoord's first team, and only played in five games; during his first season at De Kuip the team won the Dutch Cup and, the following campaign, he only appeared three times, while he was not used at all in 1995–96.

Upon leaving Rotterdam, Esajas signed with FC Groningen. There, he was played rarely, subsequently moving to SC Cambuur in the second division, where he did not feature at all. In 1998–99 he appeared in seven matches for Dordrecht'90, also in the second level.

Retirement and return

Esajas decided to move abroad and was able to have trials at ACF Fiorentina and Torino F.C. in Italy, but neither offered him a contract. He then tried to find a club in Spain, spending some time at CD Móstoles, Real Madrid Castilla and Zamora CF, but did not succeed at any, thus deciding to end his career and find a regular job at a Spanish circus.

Esajas disappeared out of the world of football for a long time, until 2004 (during this time, he also worked as a dish washer). Upon a visit to his close friend Clarence Seedorf, who played at A.C. Milan, he spoke of his wish to return to professional football – at that time his weight was over 100 kg and he had not touched a ball in three years time. Seedorf went to club coach Carlo Ancelotti and told him as a joke he could have a defender for free. The manager's reaction was skeptical, but he accepted the challenge and gave Esajas the opportunity to train at Milanello for a while; in three months time, the player lost 15 kg and in June 2004 was in footballing shape again, thus being offered a contract.[1][2]

When 2004–05's Serie A began, Esajas was one of Milan's last options on the bench, but in January 2005 he was given a few minutes of play for his hard work. He came on as a substitute three minutes before time in the Italian Cup match against U.S. Città di Palermo, for Massimo Ambrosini, and was even able to create a scoring opportunity for Jon Dahl Tomasson, who headed over the bar in an eventual 2–0 home win.[3]

Subsequently, Esajas was part of the Milan squad in Istanbul when they played and lost on penalties with Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final. He did not play any more matches for the Rossoneri, but moved to Serie C team A.C. Legnano instead, also representing Calcio Lecco 1912 in that same season before ending his career for the second and definitive time.

Esajas himself described the story of his career as follows: “The incredible story of the man who made the impossible thing possible”.[4][5]

Club statistics

[6]

Season Club Competition Apps Goals
1993/94FeyenoordNetherlands Eredivisie51
1994/95FeyenoordNetherlands Eredivisie30
1995/96FeyenoordNetherlands Eredivisie00
1996/97GroningenNetherlands Eredivisie90
1997/98CambuurNetherlands Eerste Divisie00
1998/99Dordrecht'90Netherlands Eerste Divisie70
1998/99MóstolesSpain Segunda División B100
1999/00Real Madrid BSpain Segunda División B00
1999/00ZamoraSpain Segunda División B90
2000/01ZamoraSpain Segunda División B110
2002/03 TransvaalSuriname Hoofdklasse?0
2004/05MilanItaly Serie A00
2005/06LegnanoItaly Serie C30
2005/06Calcio LeccoItaly Serie C10
Total 58 1

References

  1. "A Country For Old Men (1)" (in German). 11 Freunde. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. "Da Wilkes a Esajas – Gli orange "speciali"" [From Wilkes to Esajas – The "special" orange] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  3. "Brocchi e rigore di Tomasson: il Milan saluta il Palermo" [Brocchi and Tomasson penalty: Milan salutes Palermo] (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 13 January 2005. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. "The strange story of Harvey Esajas". Pundit Arena. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. "Milan: Harvey Esajas, el torpe más afortunado" [Milan: Harvey Esajas, the luckiest of the inept] (in Spanish). Fútbol Primera. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  6. "Harvey Esajas". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 7 November 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.