Harvey Esajas

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Personal information
Harvey Esajas
Full name	Harvey Esajas
Date of birth	June 13, 1974 (age 32)
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Playing position	defender
Club information
Current club	retired
Youth clubs
	Ajax Amsterdam RSC Anderlecht
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2001 2004-2005 2005-2006 2005-2006	Feyenoord Rotterdam FC Groningen Cambuur Leeuwarden Dordrecht'90 Real Madrid Castilla Zamora CF CD Móstoles AC Milan AC Legnano Calcio Lecco 1912	8 (1) 9 (0) 0 (0) 7 (0) ? (?) ? (?) ? (?) 0 (0) ? (?) ? (?)
National team²
	Netherlands	0 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 November 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Harvey Esajas (born June 13, 1974 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland) is a retired Dutch football player of Surinamese decent.

Esajas made his debut in professional football in the 1993/94 season playing at Feyenoord Rotterdam after spending his youth years in the football schools of RSC Anderlecht and Ajax Amsterdam. Criticism arose as to many Feyenoord fans it was unacceptable that an Amsterdam born player who was playing for arch rivals Ajax was now playing for their team. Prior to the start of the season Esajas was the key factor in the Helderse affaire. Feyenoord played a friendly pre season match versus an amateur side the Helderse Selectie. During this match Esajas knocked down player Ronald Schouten who broke his jaw. Esajas was not suspended for this manner. The oppponent in his debut match was coincidently Ajax and Esajas managed to score a Feyenoord goal in the most prestigious clash in the Netherlands right away. Despite this promosing start of his career the pressure from the supporters remained. He did not make it as a regular in Feyenoord's first team and only played in five of their matches. During his first season at Feyenoord the team won the KNVB Cup. The following season he only showed up in three matches, while he was not used in the 1995/96 season.

It was time to leave Feyenoord and he signed a contact with FC Groningen in 1996. At Groningen he only participated in nine matches. Esajas moved to Cambuur Leeuwarden in the Eerste Divisie where he did not play at all and during his time at Dordrecht'90 in 1998/99 he was only named in seven line-ups during the season.

Esajas decided to move abroad and was able to have trials at Fiorentina and Torino, but was not offered a contract at these clubs. He then tried to find a club in Spain. He spent some time at Real Madrid Castilla, Zamora CF and CD Móstoles, but did not succeed at any of these teams and he decided 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. He visited his close friend Clarence Seedorf who played at AC Milan. At that time Esajas' weight was over 100 kg and had not touched a ball in three years time, but he told Seedorf that he wanted to play some football again. Seedorf went to his manager Carlo Ancelotti and told him as a joke he could have a defender for free. Ancelotti's reaction was sceptical, but he accepted the challenge and gave Esajas the opportunity to train at Milanello for a while. In three months time Esajas lost 15 kg and in June 2004 he was in shape of a football player again. As a result Esajas was offered a contact at the club. The press and Esajas himself were shocked and surprised. When the season began Esajas was however the last option 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 Coppa Italia match versus Palermo for Massimo Ambrosini. He was even able to give an assist to Jon Dahl Tomasson, which was headed over the bar. Esajas was part of the Milan squad in Istanbul when they played Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League final. Liverpool won the confrontation on penalties. He did not play any more matches for AC Milan, but moved to Serie C team AC Legnano instead. He also played for a while at Calcio Lecco 1912 in that same season, before ending his career for the second time.

Esajas himself describes the story of his career as follows: “The incredible story of the man who made the impossible thing possible”^[1]

[edit] Statistics

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
1993/94	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	5	1
1994/95	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	3	0
1995/96	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	0	0
1996/97	FC Groningen	Eredivisie	9	0
1997/98	Cambuur Leeuwarden	Eerste Divisie	0	0
1998/99	Dordrecht'90	Eerste Divisie	7	0
1999/00	Real Madrid Castilla	Segunda División A	?	?
2000/01	Zamora CF	Segunda División A	?	?
2000/01	CD Móstoles	Tercera División	?	?
2001/04	retired
2004/05	AC Milan	Serie A	0	0
2005/06	AC Legnano	Serie C2/A	?	?
2005/06	Calcio Lecco 1912	Serie C2/A	?	?
Total			??	??