Johannes Jacobus Neeskens (; 15 September 1951 – 6 October 2024) was a Dutch football manager and player. A midfielder, he was an important member of the Netherlands national team that finished as runners-up in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups and is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time. In 2004, he was named one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony, while in 2017 he was included in the FourFourTwo list of the 100 all-time greatest players, at the 64th position.
After his retirement in 1991, Neeskens was assistant manager to Guus Hiddink with the Dutch and Australian national teams, and to Frank Rijkaard for the Netherlands, Barcelona and Galatasaray. He was also head coach of NEC Nijmegen, the Netherlands B national team, and Mamelodi Sundowns.
Early life
Neeskens was born in Heemstede in North Holland on 15 September 1951. In his childhood, marked by his parents' divorce, he slept in a corridor due to lack of space.
Neeskens was gifted at sports as a child, including gymnastics and baseball. He represented the Netherlands at a youth European Championship in the latter sport. The youngster impressed at right-back, playing in that position for Ajax in the 1971 European Cup Final win against Panathinaikos. During the 1971–72 season, Neeskens took up more of a central midfield role, in support of Johan Cruyff. He adapted well to his new central midfield role because he was a tireless runner, had great technical skills and scored his fair share of goals. Ajax completed a hat-trick of European Cup wins between 1971 and 1973, and Neeskens moved on to FC Barcelona in 1974 to join Cruyff and Michels. There he was nicknamed Johan Segon (Johan the Second). The USL collapsed six games into the 1985 season. On 15 August 1985, he signed with the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Neeskens then played for FC Baar (1988–90) and FC Zug in Switzerland, finally retiring in 1991.
International career
thumb|left|Three of the most notable figures of the [[Totaalvoetbal school: Johan Neeskens, Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff in 1976 ]]
thumb|left|Neeskens scoring the opening goal in the 1974 World Cup [[1974 FIFA World Cup Final|final against West Germany]]
Neeskens was capped 49 times for the Netherlands national team, scoring 17 goals. He made his debut against East Germany in 1970, and played a crucial role in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, playing in central midfield. At the tournament in West Germany, he scored two penalties against Bulgaria, and a goal in a 2–0 win over reigning champions Brazil to put the Netherlands into the final.
Four years later, Neeskens was a crucial player for the Netherlands (despite a rib injury suffered in the Scotland defeat), in the absence of Cruyff who had retired from international football in 1977. The Netherlands again reached the final, only to lose again to the host nation, this time Argentina, going down 3–1 after extra time (the score at the end of regulation was 1–1). He remained in the role under successor Frank Rijkaard, who led the national team in its co-hosting of Euro 2000. In 2000 he was appointed coach of Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, leading them to their first European appearance in twenty years in 2003, but was fired in December 2004 with the team in 14th place.
In December 2005, Neeskens was appointed assistant coach of the Australia national team, once again at the request of Guus Hiddink, the Soccerooss manager.
After the 2006 World Cup, Neeskens returned to FC Barcelona to replace Henk ten Cate in the club's technical staff, reuniting with Rijkaard.
Neeskens joined Frank Rijkaard at Galatasaray as his assistant manager in 2009, and left the club alongside Rijkaard in October 2010. He became the coach of South African club Mamelodi Sundowns in 2011. He was sacked in December 2012 with the team second from bottom after 12 games and having lost the League Cup final to Bloemfontein Celtic.
Style of play
thumb|Neeskens in 1970, before a friendly game between Ajax and [[Standard Liège]]
Speaking of Neeskens, the UEFA website stated that the "steel-hard midfielder was a tireless runner yet also had nice technique and scored goals, helping to set the stage for Cruyff to shine. A box-to-box midfielder with incredible stamina, great mentality, and a powerful shot, Neeskens excelled at pressuring opponents to regain possession. "He was worth two men in midfield," said teammate Sjaak Swart."
Neeskens had begun his career as a right-back for Heemstede, but was moved into midfield by Ajax manager Ștefan Kovács. He played in the Total Football team designed by Kovács's predecessor Rinus Michels, in which players were expected to change position fluidly.
Neeskens died while in Algeria on 6 October 2024, at the age of 73. He was in the country as part of a KNVB coaching project, and had suffered a heart attack.
|Eerste Divisie
|34||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||35||0
|-
|1969–70
|La Liga
|27||7||0||0||colspan="2"|–||7||1||colspan="2"|–||34||8
|-
|1975–76
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="12"|Netherlands
|1970||2||0
|-
|1971||3||0
|-
|1972||4||5
|-
|1973||5||1
|-
|1974||13||9
|-
|1975||3||1
|-
|1976||4||1
|-
|1977||3||0
|-
|1978||8||0
|-
|1979||2||0
|-
|1980||0||0
|-
|1981||2||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!49!!17
|}
:Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Neeskens goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Johan Neeskens
- Eredivisie: 1971–72, 1972–73
- KNVB Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72
- European Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73
- Intercontinental Cup: 1972
- European Super Cup: 1972, 1973
Barcelona
Individual
- FUWO European Team of the Season: 1972
- Sport Ideal European XI: 1974, 1975
- 1974 FIFA World Cup Silver Boot
- 1974 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
- Don Balón Award (La Liga Foreign Player of the Year): 1975–76
- La Liga Team of The Year: 1976, 1977, 1979
- FIFA 100
- Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
References
External links
- Johan Neeskens at Voetbal International
- Johan Neesken's USA soccer league stats at nasljerseys.com