The former midfielder had been Johan Cruyff’s faithful lieutenant in the Netherlands selection but also at Barça in the 1970s, to the point of being nicknamed “Johan II”.
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Double finalist at the World Cup for the Netherlands in 1974 and 1978, Johan Neeskens died on Sunday October 6, at the age of 73. The Dutch Football Association announced this on Monday. During his career, he notably played 183 matches with FC Barcelona and 171 with Ajax, two of the best teams of the decade. With the Ajacides, he won three Champions Leagues (in 1971, 1972 and 1973), as well as a European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1979 with the Catalan club.
Prominent member of the Dutch national team in the 1970s, right-hand man of Johan Cruyff and among the protagonists of “total football” (all for the attack, advocated by coach Rinus Michels), he took the Oranje to the highest levels of sport, only failing to climb the final step, against Germany, then the ‘Argentina. A team-oriented player, he still appeared in the Top 5 of the Ballon d’Or in 1974 (behind Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Kazimierz Deyna and Paul Breitner).
“With Johan Neeskens, the world of Dutch and international football loses a legend“, welcomed the Dutch federation in a press release published on its website, emphasizing that with “ his characteristic tackles, his sublime vision of the game and his emblematic penalties, he will forever remain one of the best players that Dutch football has ever produced“.
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Retiring from the field in 1991, he subsequently embarked on a coaching career. Traveling the globe, he settled in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, South Africa and the Netherlands, often in the role of assistant coach. Alongside Guus Hiddink, he was even an assistant to the Australian national team, after having held the same role with Frank Rijkaard with the Dutch national team.
The Variétés Club de France (the club bringing together celebrities from the world of football and not), of which he had been a member since 1992, announced that it would pay tribute to him during its 2,500th match on Saturday.