Johnny Heitinga
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John (Johnny) Heitinga (born November 15, 1983 in Alphen aan den Rijn) is a Dutch soccer player who plays for the Netherlands national football team and Ajax Amsterdam. He plays as right-back or central defender.
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 permanent fixture in the team and was first-choice player under coach Co Adriaanse and then Ronald Koeman until he received a serious knee injury which ruled him out of the game for over 6 months. Upon his comeback he played only one game before receiving another major injury which again saw him out of action for a long period of time. He made his second comeback at the start of the 2003-2004 season. He impressed in his first game back against FC Volendam and became the preferred choice as centre back for the rest of the season.
In the meantime his good performances for Ajax did not go un-noticed with the coach of the Dutch national team. 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 then selected into the squad for Euro 2004. He played in 3 out of the 5 games that the Netherlands played.
The 2004-2005 season saw Heitinga's form drop dramatically. He faced stiff criticism from demanding Ajax fans and was sometimes made a scapegoat through the media. He lost his starting place in the Ajax side but remained being called up to the national team. However, when Ajax changed coaches and Heitinga's form gradually came back, he made to lead the team. This responsibility proved to be far too much of a burden, and he quickly lost the captaincy role as well as his playing position in team. He subsequently went through months of sitting on the bench and only being used sparingly and he even hinted at leaving Ajax before a turn in good fortune saw him once again become a preferred player near the end of 2005.Template:Netherlands-footybio-stub
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