Originally Posted by Abe Sargent
Born in the city of Xai-Xai, in the lower part of Mozambique, James Essex was the son of a missionary pastor who married a local woman. Biracial technically, his dark composure is often darker than most pure Africans he grew up with. After eleven years of living in Xai-Xai, James Essex and his love for sports, including local football played in the tight streets, went back to his native father’s England. He spent a few years playing ball there before being spotted by a Swedish scout. At the age of 16, James Essex was signed by Osters IF for their youth squad, and he traveled there. For the next seven years, James moved to two other clubs in Sweden and grew up there, gaining Sweden as his second nationality.
Meanwhile, Mozambique came calling, and at the age of 20, Essex agreed to play for their national club and was capped for the senior squad. Over the next ten years, Essex would play 26 games for the squad at his natural central defender position. He would leave Sweden at the age of 24 for England, where he played for two clubs over the next four years. Finally, he returned to Sweden and finished his career there at the age of 31, when he broke his back in the brutally cold game and was wheelchair bound for two years until he recovered.
He used his time to develop skills with the local coaching staff in Sweden, and became more of a mentor and coach for the other players. By the time his injury was finished, he was promoted to a role as Assistant Manager to a club in the Allsvenskan. After assisting the team reach higher than expected, his name was circulated as getting his first manager position, but none came in Sweden.
So he reached out to see if he could find another fit. And he did – in Portugal. As a native of Mozambique, he speaks very good Portuguese. He also knows English, Swedish and Norwegian. He was tapped by Madeira to come in and stir things up and get them to the next level. It hoped that his experience getting a club to outperform expectations in the Allsvenskan as an Assistant Manager will help here in Portugal as well. Plus, the senior squad has three fellow Mozambiquean players – Zainadine Junior, Reginaldo, and Marcio Madeira.
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