John Heitinga

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John Heitinga
Personal information
Full name John Gijsbert Alan Heitinga
Date of birth November 15, 1983 (age 23)
Place of birth Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands
Height 1.80 m
Position Defender
Club information
Current club Ajax Amsterdam
Number 2
Youth clubs
1987–1990
1990–2001		 ARC
AFC Ajax
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
2001–present AFC Ajax 102 (7)
National team**
2004–present Netherlands 24 (2)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 5 December 2006 (UTC).
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 15 November 2006.

John Gijsbert Alan Heitinga (born November 15, 1983 in Alphen aan den Rijn) is a Dutch football player who plays for the Netherlands national football team and Ajax Amsterdam. Usually as either a central defender or a right-back.

Heitinga was part of the Ajax youth setup before making his debut for the first team on 26 August 2001 against Feyenoord Rotterdam. Heitinga quickly established himself as a strong addition to the team and became first-choice player under coach Co Adriaanse and later Ronald Koeman until he suffered a serious knee injury which kept him on the sidelines for over six months. His comeback was short-lived, as he played only one game before suffering yet another injury which again sentenced him to a long period of recovery. He made his second comeback at the start of the 2003-2004 season and impressed in his first game since injury against FC Volendam from where he went on to become a first choice central defender for the remainder of the season.

In the meantime his good performances for Ajax didn't go unnoticed by Dutch national coach Advocaat. Having been part of Dutch international youth teams, Heitinga made his senior debut for the Netherlands on 18 February 2004 in a friendly game against the United States. He made an immediate impact and was later included in the squad for the European Football Championship of 2004 in Portugal. In Portugal, the Netherlands were eliminated by the hosts in their fifth game (the semi-final), of which Heitinga played three.

Heitinga's development as a player suffered two dips in form in the 2004-2005 and the 2005-2006 seasons respectively. How big an influence the unstable situation at his club, AFC Ajax, had on him is debatable but it's safe to conclude a young player will struggle to excel in an unbalanced side suffering inconsistency in results and changes in management. Despite club struggles, Heitinga never lost his spot in the national team under Marco van Basten, who took over as Dutch national coach in the summer of 2004. By the end of 2005, had also once again become a key player in the Ajax squad. He would also be selected by Van Basten for the Dutch team of 23 players to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2006, hosted by Germany.

The Dutch side performed reasonably well at the World Cup, qualifying for the second round before being knocked out by Portugal. Heitinga became the subject of momentary controversy when he failed to give the ball back to Portugal after a moment when the ball had been out of play.


[edit] Trophies (at Ajax)

[edit] External links


Netherlands Netherlands squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Netherlands

1 van der Sar | 2 Jaliens | 3 Boulahrouz | 4 Mathijsen | 5 van Bronckhorst | 6 Landzaat | 7 Kuyt | 8 Cocu | 9 van Nistelrooy | 10 van der Vaart | 11 Robben | 12 Kromkamp | 13 Ooijer | 14 Heitinga | 15 de Cler | 16 Maduro | 17 van Persie | 18 van Bommel | 19 Vennegoor of Hesselink | 20 Sneijder | 21 Babel | 22 Timmer | 23 Stekelenburg | Coach: van Basten
Ajax Amsterdam - Current Squad

1 Stekelenburg | 2 Heitinga | 3 Stam | 4 Vermaelen | 5 Emanuelson | 6 Maduro | 7 Rosales | 8 Babel | 9 Huntelaar | 10 Sneijder | 11 Perez | 12 Vermeer | 14 Roger | 15 Lindenbergh | 16 de Mul | 17 Krohn-Dehli | 18 Gabri | 19 Rosenberg | 20 Ogăraru | 21 Mitea | 22 Grygera | 23 Boakye | 24 Schilder | 25 Sarpong | 26 Manucharyan | 28 Vertonghen | 29 Poepon | 30 Gentenaar | 32 van Duin
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