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| Source=Spanish national soccer team SNS Capture |
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Dean Heisen, who was surprisingly selected as a member of the Spanish national team, has a unique history of relocating several times as a child at a young age.
Born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 2005, the son of Ajax striker Donny Heissen, Heissen immigrated to Spain's Andalusia region at the age of five. He started playing soccer there and grew up on the Marveya and Malaga youth teams. Heisen acquired Spanish citizenship in February 2024.
Heisen, who is 1m 97cm tall, was recognized for his talent early on. I didn't dream of becoming a defender from the beginning. He wanted to follow his father to become a striker, but he turned into a defender at the request of Marveya coach Costa Unida.
Heisen moved to Italy's prestigious Juventus youth team at the age of 16 in 2021 and was promoted to Juventus NextGen, the Juventus reserve team, in 2023. He had a reputation as a 'goal defender'.
Heisen, who signed a four-year contract with Juventus in June 2023, made his first-team debut. Heisen, who had been on loan to AS Roma in January 2024, left Italy in July 2024 for a transfer fee of 15.2 million euros to English Premier League club Bournemouth.
The Bournemouth transfer was a `God's move.' He has scored two goals in 23 appearances in the EPL as the starting center back for the sensation team Bournemouth. In December last year, Son scored the winning goal against Bournemouth, his team, to lead the team to a 1-0 victory.
Heisen, who went from place to place in Europe as a child, is fluent in four languages: English, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch.
Heisen's consistent performance has caught the eye of Luis de la Fuente, the coach of Spain's national football team. De La Puente surprisingly selected Heisen as a substitute when key center back Inigo Martinez (Barcelona) was dropped due to an internal meningitis injury in his right knee ahead of the A-match in March.
Heisen served as the captain of the Dutch Under-21 team after playing for the Dutch national football team by age, and the Spanish Football Association tried to persuade him to join the Spanish team using the dual nationality option of the player's family. Manager Ronald Koeman is said to have tried to get Heisen to join the Dutch national team.
Heisen is likely to make his A-match debut against the Netherlands, coincidentally 'Motherland'. Spain will play the Netherlands on the 21st and 24th in two consecutive games in the first and second rounds of the European Nations League quarterfinals in the 2024-2025 season.
De La Puente is seeking a generational change by selecting young resources such as Shinsung center back Raul Asensio (Real Madrid) born in 2003 and striker Samu Aghejowa (Porto) born in 2004.
Heisen, along with Pau-Caucarcy (Barcelona), and Asensio, is considered a resource that will be responsible for Spain's backdoor in the future.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
