Mike Havenaar

Mike Havenaar is a striker of Vitesse. He was born on 20 May 1987 in Hiroshima, Japan.

Havenaar’s parents left the Netherlands for Japan in 1986, when his father penned a contract with Mazda F.C. The footballer’s younger brother Nikki performs for Nagoya Grampus and the Japan national U-17 team.

Havenaar’s career took off in the youth team of Consadole Sapporo. Later his father moved to Yokohama F. Marinos and Mike joined the academy of the new club. His professional début came on 15 April 2006 in the match against Gamba Osaka, where he played with his father. Their father-son duo was a unique case in the J. League.

The family combination soon was disunited, because the management of Yokohama F. Marinos sent Mike on loan to second division side Avispa Fukuoka. Havenaar showed impressive performance and completed a move to Sagan Tosu on loan as well. In 2010 the footballer sealed a deal with Ventforet Kofu on permanent basis and managed to amass 37 goals in 63 matches. In 2011 Mike finalized a move to Dutch side Vitesse on a two-and-a-half year contract.

Havenaar performed for the Japan national youth team and the senior squad. He was capped nine times and found the net three times for the full national team as of October 2012.