is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Early life

Havenaar's parents came to Japan from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1986 when his father Dido signed for

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

-based side Mazda FC of the

Japan Soccer League ; JSL) was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...

(now

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

of the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

). His mother was an athlete and a former national champion in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. His younger brother Nikki currently plays for FC Thun and has previously played for the U-17 and U-18 Japan national team as centre back. The Havenaar family became naturalized Japanese citizens in 1994.

Club career

Havenaar began his career with the Consadole Sapporo U-15 side, where his father played and later worked as goalkeeper coach. When Dido moved to powerhouse Yokohama F. Marinos, Mike joined the Marinos youth side and promoted to the top team in 2006. Playing as a forward, Havenaar made his debut as a professional on 15 April 2006, against Gamba Osaka. Havenaar and his father are the first father-son combination to play in the J. League. He was loaned to second division club Avispa Fukuoka and

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional Association football, football club based in Tosu, Saga, Tosu, Saga Prefecture. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of Japanese football, since 2025 following relegation from the J1 League in 2024 J1 Leag ...

and showed respectable results. Mike Havenaar - 2010

In 2010, he joined Ventforet Kofu, scoring 20 goals in 30 appearances for the club, helping them gain promotion to

. In 2011, Havenaar returned to Division 1 with Venforet and netted 17 times in 32 appearances. He received the J. League Best Eleven award after the season. Despite his contendership for the Top Scorer award, Kofu was relegated at the end of the season.

Vitesse

On 21 December 2011, Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem announced that they completed the signing of Havenaar on a two-and-a-half-year contract beating out the likes of Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for his signature. Havenaar made his debut for the club as a 73rd-minute substitute for Nicky Hofs in their 1–0 away defeat to rivals NEC Nijmegen. His first goal came in his next appearance, a 3–1 loss to PSV. Havenaar made his first start for Vitesse on 4 February 2012 and provided an assist to Nicky Hofs first goal of the season, securing a 1–0 win NAC Breda. Havenaar scored his second goal for his new club in another losing effort, this time a 4–1 loss to title contenders

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

. Havenaar continued to impress for Vitesse, slotting the ball home after a cutting pass from Alexander Büttner to complete a 2–0 victory over De Graafschap on 4 March. Away against FC Groningen he made the third goal for Vitesse in the last minute, the game ended in 1–3 for Vitesse.

Córdoba

On 21 July 2014, it was announced by Córdoba CF that they had signed Havenaar. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut on 25 August 2014, starting in a 0–2 away loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. On 30 December 2014 Havenaar was released by the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns, after appearing in only five matches and scoring no goals during his spell for Córdoba CF.

HJK Helsinki

On 2 March 2015, it was announced by HJK Helsinki that they had signed Havenaar. He made his competitive debut for HJK on 6 March 2015 in the Finnish League Cup and scored the second goal in a 2–0 win. On 4 April 2015, Havenaar scored the second goal in the 57th minute to secure a 2–0 win and the League Cup against RoPS.

ADO Den Haag

On 11 August 2015, Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag announced that they had signed Mike Havenaar as a striker. On 3 July 2017, ADO Den Haag officially announced that Havenaar would be leaving the club to move back to Japan and join J1 league side Vissel Kobe. During his two seasons at ADO, the striker scored a total of 27 goals, including a goal on the last day of the 2016/17 season in the 4–1 win over Excelsior.

Vissel Kobe

On 3 July 2017, Havenaar joined Japanese J1 league side Vissel Kobe.

Bonbonera Gifu

On 26 January 2021, Havenaar joined

Tōkai Adult Soccer League Until the 2024 season, the league was known as the . is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers most of the Tōkai region, as well as the prefectures of Aichi, Shizuoka, Gifu is ...

side Bombonera Gifu.

International career

In 2007, Havenaar was picked to join the Japan U-20 squad to compete 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada and played one match against Nigeria U-20. In August 2011, he was called up to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's training squad. He made his debut for

on 2 September 2011 as a 70th-minute substitute against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier match, striking the post. He scored his first ever goals for the national team with a brace, both headers, against

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

on 11 October 2011 in the same competition. Japan won the game 8–0. Havenaar also participated in FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 coming on as a substitute and playing a total of 11 minutes in the competition.

Personal life

Havenaar is trilingual. He was brought up bilingual, speaking Japanese and his parents' native Dutch and learned fluent English at the Yokohama International School. Havenaar got married in 2011 and in the same year, his first daughter was born on 5 August. His younger brother Nikki is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Havenaar goal.''

Honors

HJK Helsinki * Finish League Cup:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * * *
Mike Havenaar
at '' Voetbal International'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Havenaar, Mike 1987 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Association football people from Hiroshima People educated at Yokohama International School Naturalized citizens of Japan Men's association football forwards Japan men's youth international footballers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Japan men's international footballers Japanese people of Dutch descent J1 League players J2 League players Eredivisie players La Liga players Veikkausliiga players Mike Havenaar Yokohama F. Marinos players Avispa Fukuoka players Sagan Tosu players Ventforet Kofu players Vissel Kobe players Vegalta Sendai players SBV Vitesse players Córdoba CF players ADO Den Haag players Mike Havenaar 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Thailand