John Heitinga

John Gijsbert Alan Heitinga (born November 15, 1983 in Alphen aan den Rijn) is a Netherlands football player. He plays for the Netherlands national football team, and joined Atlético Madrid from AFC Ajax signing a five-year contract in May 2008.




He is known as an adaptable player as he can play in several different defensive positions on the pitch. Such as, a central defender, right-back and defensive midfielder.

Career

Heitinga was part of the Ajax youth team before making his debut for the first team on 26 August, 2001 against Feyenoord Rotterdam. He was part a new wave of talent that fielded the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and others. 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 Euro 2004 in Portugal. In Portugal, the Netherlands were eliminated by Portugal national football team 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 national football team. He was also called up to the Dutch squad for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

He moved to Atlético Madrid at the end of the 2007/2008 season for a fee of €10 million.

International career

International goals

Trophies

- 2007-2008: Johan Cruijff Schaal
- 2006-2007: Johan Cruijff Schaal, KNVB Cup
- 2005-2006: Johan Cruijff Schaal, KNVB Cup
- 2003-2004: Eredivisie
- 2002-2003: Johan Cruijff Schaal
- 2001-2002: Eredivisie, KNVB Cup