Djai Essed (born 25 April 1998) is a St. Maartener footballer who plays for the Sint Maarten national team.

Youth career

In 2009, Essed played in the School Division of the St. Maarten Soccer Educational Foundation (SMSEF) for Sister Magda '98. That year, the team defeated the Caribbean International Academy to win the top division championship. That season, Essed was the top division's top scorer with 11 goals. Essed played for MPC Stars FC of the SMSEF youth league while attending Milton Peters College. In 2011, he attended training in the Netherlands organized by

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

while in 2014 he took part in a training camp on Sint Maarten held by the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. For his performances at the Red Bull camp, he was awarded the event's Excellence Award. In 2016, Essed took part in the 2016 West Virginia Tri-State Elite College Combine in hopes of securing a spot to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 2016, he decided to join the Golden Eagles of Feather River College in

Quincy, California Quincy (formerly Quinsy) is a census-designated place and the county seat of Plumas County, California. The population was 1,630 during the 2020 Census, down from 1,728 during the 2010 Census, and 1,879 during the 2000 Census. History Before ...

. During the season, he scored three goals in fourteen matches. After one season with the team, Essed transferred to

Northeastern Junior College Northeastern Junior College (NJC) is a public community college in Sterling, Colorado. It is a member college of the Colorado Community College System. Academics The college offers over 80 programs of study, with classes held at the campus or ...

Sterling, Colorado Sterling is a home rule municipality and the county seat and most populous municipality of Logan County, Colorado, United States. Sterling is the principal city of the Sterling, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city population was 13,735 ...

. Despite being announced as a transfer student, he never appeared on the team's roster. By 2018 he was no longer playing college soccer in the United States and had begun studying in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. During this time he also worked as a youth coach at Dutch club

WV-HEDW WV-HEDW, in the long form Wilhelmina Vooruit Hortus Eendracht Doet Winnen, is a football club in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club plays at Sportpark Middenmeer and has the most adult members and teams among Dutch football clubs. History The ...

Club career

Essed played for RISC Takers FC of the SMSA Senior League until 2014. By age 15, he was a starter for

Flames United SC Flames United SC is a Sint Maarten professional football club that currently plays in the Sint Maarten Premier League. The club's home ground is the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex in Philipsburg, the country's capital. The club also fields a fut ...

. In Summer 2014 at age 16 he was invited to train with

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

who were at the time in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, the top level of

football in the Netherlands Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Association football, Football was introduced to the Netherlands by Pim Mulier in the 19th century when in 1879, at the age of 14, he founded Koninklijke HFC, Haarlemsche Football Club. Ov ...

. He has also had a trial with

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

powerhouse

. In December 2017 it was announced that Essed would take part in the MLS Caribbean Combine The following month. The combine was organized by

to scout players from the Caribbean region with the potential to sign them to MLS or

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

contracts.

International career

Essed first represented Sint Maarten in the 2013 CONCACAF Under-15 Championship held in the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

. It was at that tournament that his primary position became

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Essed made his senior international debut for Sint Maarten in a friendly against

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

on 13 March 2016 at age 17. He started the match and played the full 90 minutes. The match was Sint Maarten's first senior international in 12 years and was played in preparation for each side's

2017 Caribbean Cup qualification The 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification began in March 2016. The qualification competition determined which Caribbean national teams would play in the 2017 Caribbean Cup and the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Participants 25 teams from the 31 CFU members ...

campaigns which were set to begin the following week. He played in both of Sint Maarten's Caribbean Cup qualifiers, Sint Maarten's first competitive matches in 19 years. In 2016, he was also called up to be part of Sint Maarten's U20 squad and was called up again in June for

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying The qualifying competitions for the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship were handled by two regional of CONCACAF's bodies; the Caribbean Football Union (Caribbean zone) and the Central American Football Union (Central American zone). Representative tea ...

as Sint Maarten hosted their group. The team suffered three defeats in the opening round of the tournament and were eliminated. Essed served as captain of the team for the tournament.

International career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Sint Maarten's goal tally first.''

References

External links

Feather River College profile

NCSA profile
*
CCAA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essed, Djai Living people 1998 births Men's association football defenders Sint Maarten men's international footballers Sint Maarten men's footballers Dutch men's footballers Dutch Antillean men's footballers Footballers from Amsterdam Feather River College alumni 21st-century Dutch sportsmen