John Heitinga

John Heitinga

Personal information
Full name	John Gijsbert Alan Heitinga
Date of birth	15 November 1983 (1983-11-15) (age 27)
Place of birth	Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position	Defender / Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Everton
Number	5
Youth career
1987–1990	ARC
1990–2001	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2008	Ajax	160	(24)
2008–2009	Atlético Madrid	28	(3)
2009–present	Everton	32	(0)
National team‡
2004–present	Netherlands	60	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:21, 22 August 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:15, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

John Gijsbert Alan "Johnny" Heitinga (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdʒɔn ˈɦɛitɪŋɣɐ, or ʃɔni ɦɛitɪŋɣɐ]; born 15 November 1983 in Alphen aan den Rijn) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a defender for English Premier League club Everton and the Dutch national team. A product of Jong Ajax, he previously played for AFC Ajax and Atlético Madrid, before signing for Everton in 2009. Heitinga previously represented various youth squads for the Netherlands. He is now a regular player for the Dutch national team, having made his debut in April 2003. He has represented his country at two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and two European Championships (2004 and 2008). In 2008, Heitinga was named Dutch Footballer of the Year.

Club career

Ajax

Heitinga was part of the Ajax youth team before making his debut for the first team on 26 August 2001 against Feyenoord. He was part a new wave of talent that fielded the likes of homegrown stars Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder as well as Zlatan Ibrahimović and Cristian Chivu. He was featured in a documentary entitled Ajax: Hark the Herald Angel Sings alongside Ajax academy pupils Gregory van der Wiel, Mitchell Donald, Jeffrey Sarpong, Donovan Slijngard, Nordin Amrabat, Evander Sno and Jeremain Lens.

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 2003–04 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 as well as a popular figure amongst the fans. When it was announced that he would be leaving Ajax at the end of the 2007–08 season, the fans gave him a fitting send-off by displaying a mosaic of him on the stands.

Atlético Madrid

He moved to Atlético Madrid at the end of the 2007/08 season for a fee of £8.8 million.^[2] His first season in Spain ended with Heitinga making 32 appearances (27 in the league), and scoring 3 goals for Atlético.

Heitinga with Michael Owen.

Everton

On 30 August 2009, Atlético Madrid accepted a bid from Everton valued at around €7.04million (£6.2million) for the services of Heitinga.^[3][4][5] John Heitinga was given Joleon Lescott's old shirt number 5 following his move to Manchester City. Heitinga was not be eligible to represent Everton in the Europa League (formally UEFA Cup) in the 2009/10 season as he has already played for Atletico Madrid in the qualifying stage of the Champions League. At Everton, Heitinga will be reacquainted himself with former Ajax teammate Steven Pienaar. He made his debut for Everton on 13 September against Fulham after coming on for an injured Phil Neville.^[6] In his first season for the club, Heitinga made 35 appearances in all competitions.^[7]

International career

Heitinga playing for the Netherlands

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 and made an immediate impact. Several months later, he scored his first goal from a van der Vaart free kick in a friendly against Greece. Although he did not take part in qualifying, he was later included in the squad for the Euro 2004 in Portugal since the U-21s had failed to qualify for the European Championships. He started as first choice right back in the first two group stage matches but was suspended for the last match when he was sent-off for two bookable offences. After serving his suspension, he returned in the quarterfinal against Sweden as a second half substitute for Edgar Davids and converted his penalty as the Dutch won 5–4 on penalties. Unfortunately, the Dutch were eliminated by the hosts, Portugal in the semifinal.

Heitinga's development as a player suffered two dips in form in the 2004–05 and the 2005–06 seasons respectively. 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 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Germany. The Dutch side performed reasonably well at the World Cup, qualifying for the second round before being knocked out by Portugal. He was also called up to the Dutch squad for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

Since the Euro 2008, he has been a regular in the right back position and has occasionally deputised in other defensive positions during an injury crisis. He made his 50th appearance for the Netherlands in a friendly against Paraguay on 18 November 2009.^[8]

Heitinga (right) with Wesley Sneijder.

2010 World Cup

Heitinga was included in the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa,^[9] and was in the starting line-up for the Netherlands' first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark.^[10] Heitinga played in every game as the Netherlands reached the World Cup Final for the third time, where they face Spain. He started the match, but was sent off in the 109th minute after being given his second yellow card for a foul on Andrés Iniesta, becoming the fifth player sent off in a World Cup final.^{[11][nb 1]} The Netherlands went on to lose the final 1–0.^[11]

ARC Heitinga Tournament

Heitinga also hosts a tournament for disabled children who are unable to play football on the streets.

Personal life

Heitinga married Charlotte-Sophie Zenden (who is the sister of fellow dutch midfielder Boudewijn Zenden) on 16 July 2010. The wedding was in Ibiza. There had three day wedding party started on July 14. John and Charlotte-Sophie live in England and have been together since 2004. They have a one year old daughter called Jezebel.

Career statistics

As of 9 May 2010

International goals

John Heitinga: International goals^[12]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 April 2004	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Greece	3–0	4–0	Friendly match
2	1 June 2006	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Mexico	1–1	2–1	Friendly match
3	6 June 2007	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	0–2	1–3	Friendly match
4	6 February 2008	Poljud Stadium, Split, Croatia	Croatia	0–1	0–3	Friendly match
5	26 March 2008	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Austria	3–2	3–4	Friendly match
6	10 September 2008	Skopje City Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	0–1	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

AFC Ajax

• Eredivisie
  • Winners: 2001–02, 2003–04
• KNVB Cup
  • Winners: 2002, 2006, 2007
• Johan Cruijff Schaal
  • Winners: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007

Notes

References

External links

• John Heitinga - FIFA competition record
• Johnny Heitinga – Official website
• (Dutch) Profile
• Voetbal International website and 2007/08 presentation magazine
• John Heitinga at the Internet Movie Database

Netherlands squads Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 van der Sar (c) • 2 Reiziger • 3 Stam • 4 Bouma • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 Cocu • 7 van der Meyde • 8 Davids • 9 Kluivert • 10 van Nistelrooy • 11 van der Vaart • 12 Makaay • 13 Westerveld • 14 Sneijder • 15 F. de Boer • 16 Overmars • 17 van Hooijdonk • 18 Heitinga • 19 Robben • 20 Seedorf • 21 Bosvelt • 22 Zenden • 23 Waterreus • Coach: Advocaat Netherlands squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 van der Sar (c) • 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 Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 van der Sar (c) • 2 Ooijer • 3 Heitinga • 4 Mathijsen • 5 van Bronckhorst • 6 De Zeeuw • 7 van Persie • 8 Engelaar • 9 van Nistelrooy • 10 Sneijder • 11 Robben • 12 Melchiot • 13 Timmer • 14 Bouma • 15 De Cler • 16 Stekelenburg • 17 De Jong • 18 Kuyt • 19 Huntelaar • 20 Afellay • 21 Boulahrouz • 22 Vennegoor of Hesselink • 23 van der Vaart • Coach: van Basten Netherlands squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Stekelenburg • 2 van der Wiel • 3 Heitinga • 4 Mathijsen • 5 van Bronckhorst (c) • 6 van Bommel • 7 Kuyt • 8 de Jong • 9 van Persie • 10 Sneijder • 11 Robben • 12 Boulahrouz • 13 Ooijer • 14 de Zeeuw • 15 Braafheid • 16 Vorm • 17 Elia • 18 Schaars • 19 Babel • 20 Afellay • 21 Huntelaar • 22 Boschker • 23 van der Vaart • Coach: van Marwijk