Sven Mijnans (born 9 March 2000) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club AZ.

Club career

Mijnans played in the academy of

VV Spijkenisse Voetbalvereniging Spijkenisse is a football club from Spijkenisse, Netherlands. In 2017–18, VV Spijkenisse played its sole season in the Saturday Derde Divisie. Since 2023, it plays in the Eerste Klasse, after relegating from the Vierde Divisie ...

. After experiences at

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

and

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, he joined the academy of

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

aged 16. However, he returned to VV Spijkenisse a year later. He made his

Derde Divisie The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede D ...

debut in February 2018.

Sparta Rotterdam

Mijnans joined

in May 2018. At the start of the season, he had training sessions with the second team, but played most of his matches at under 19 level. He made his

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie (; ) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and between 1962 and 19 ...

debut for the second team in November 2018. During the second half of the season, he was a regular starter for the second team. He was included in the match squad for the first team seven times at the end of his first season at Sparta Rotterdam as the club won promotion to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

through the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. Mijnans was included in the match squad for an

game for a first time on 14 September 2019 against AZ.

First team

In September 2020, he extended his contract at Sparta Rotterdam until June 2022, with an option for another season. Five days later, he made his official debut for Sparta Rotterdam, replacing

Adil Auassar Adil Auassar (born 6 October 1986) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Early life Auassar was born in Dordrecht, South Holland, the Netherlands. He grew up in Zwijndrecht, South Holland, and has two older brothers and one younger siste ...

for the final minutes of the match that resulted in a 2–0 defeat to Vitesse at the GelreDome. On 4 October 2020, Sparta Rotterdam was 4–0 down against AZ when Mijnans replaced

Bryan Smeets Bryan George Jeffrey Smeets (born 22 November 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club MVV. Club career He formerly played for MVV Maastricht, De Graafschap and SC Cambuur. He is best known the myth of Bryan ...

at half time. At the end of the match, Mijnans scored his first professional goal to equalise. On 28 October 2020,

Henk Fraser Hendrikus "Henk" Fraser (born 7 July 1966) is a Dutch football coach and former player. He played as a defender for various Dutch teams. Born in Suriname, he earned seven caps for the Netherlands national team in which he scored one goal. He ...

gave Mijnans his first professional start, in the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

match against

, which resulted in a defeat after a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Mijnans extended his contract at Sparta Rotterdam until the summer of 2024 in August 2021. On 18 December 2021, Mijnans scored both of Sparta Rotterdam's goals in a 2–2 draw against Vitesse. Sparta Rotterdam finished the Eredivisie season with a point ahead of the relegation zone.

AZ

On 31 January 2023, Mijnans signed a contract until 2028 for

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

, who reportedly paid a € 2.5 million transfer fee to Sparta Rotterdam.

International career

In October 2021, Mijnans was included in the provisional squad for the Netherlands under-21 team for a first time by Erwin van de Looi. In May 2022, he was included in the final squad of the under-21 team for a first time. He made his debut for the team on 7 June 2022, starting in the Euro qualifier against

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

(6–0).

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Career stats & Profile
- Voetbal International
Sven Mijnans
OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Mijnans, Sven 2000 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Sparta Rotterdam players AZ Alkmaar players Eredivisie players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen Jong Sparta players