 Neeskens in 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Johannes Jacobus Neeskens[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1951-09-15)15 September 1951 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Heemstede, Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 6 October 2024(2024-10-06) (aged 73) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Algeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–1970 | RCH | 68 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1974 | Ajax | 124 | (33) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1979 | Barcelona | 140 | (35) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1984 | New York Cosmos | 94 | (17) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1985 | Groningen | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | South Florida Sun | 1 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | Kansas City Comets (indoor) | 23 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1987 | Löwenbrau (amateurs) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1990 | Baar | 23 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | FC Zug | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1981 | Netherlands | 49 | (17) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | FC Zug | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Stäfa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Singen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–2000 | Netherlands (assistant manager) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | NEC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Australia (assistant manager) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Barcelona (assistant manager) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Netherlands B | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Galatasaray (assistant manager) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Mamelodi Sundowns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Johannes Jacobus Neeskens (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈjoːɦɑˈneːskəns]; 15 September 1951 – 6 October 2024) was a Dutchfootball manager and player. Amidfielder, he was an important member of theNetherlands national team that finished as runners-up in the1974 and1978 FIFA World Cups and is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time.[3][4][5] In 2004, he was named one of the125 Greatest Living Footballers at aFIFA Awards Ceremony,[6] while in 2017 he was included in theFourFourTwo list of the 100 all-time greatest players, at the 64th position.[7]
After his retirement in 1991, Neeskens was assistant manager toGuus Hiddink with the Dutch and Australian national teams, and toFrank Rijkaard for the Netherlands, Barcelona andGalatasaray. He was also head coach ofNEC Nijmegen, theNetherlands B national team,[8] andMamelodi Sundowns.
Neeskens was born inHeemstede inNorth Holland on 15 September 1951. In his childhood, marked by his parents' divorce, he slept in a corridor due to lack of space.[9]
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.[9]
Neeskens started his career atRacing Club Heemstede in 1968, before being spotted byRinus Michels and signed forAjax in 1970.[10] The youngster impressed atright-back, playing in that position for Ajax in the 1971European Cup Final win againstPanathinaikos. During the 1971–72 season, Neeskens took up more of acentral midfield role, in support ofJohan 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 toFC Barcelona in 1974 to join Cruyff and Michels. There he was nicknamedJohan Segon (Johan the Second).[10]
While his time at Barcelona was relatively unsuccessful for the club (one cup title in 1978, and the 1979Cup Winners' Cup), he was hugely popular amongst the fans. In 1979 he accepted an offer from theNew York Cosmos, spending five years at the club. He earned the equivalent of 600,000Dutch guilders (roughly $300,000) per year at the club.[11] Having been absent without reason for the third time, he was given a nine-month suspension by managerHennes Weisweiler in late 1980.[11] The Cosmos released him in October 1984. He also played forFC Groningen during the 1984–85 season. In June 1985, he signed with theSouth Florida Sun of theUnited Soccer League.[12] The USL collapsed six games into the 1985 season. On 15 August 1985, he signed with theKansas City Comets of theMajor Indoor Soccer League.[13]
Neeskens then played for FC Baar (1988–90) andFC Zug in Switzerland, finally retiring in 1991.[14][15]
Neeskens was capped 49 times for theNetherlands national team, scoring 17 goals. He made his debut againstEast Germany in 1970, and played a crucial role in the1974 and1978 FIFA World Cups, playing in central midfield.[9]
In1974 World Cup qualification, Neeskens scored ahat-trick in a 9–0 win overNorway and also neutralised the attacking threat ofPaul Van Himst againstBelgium; the latter performance was criticised as a "disgrace" in Dutch newspaperde Volkskrant for having committed 13 fouls.[11] At the tournament in West Germany, he scored two penalties againstBulgaria, and a goal in a 2–0 win over reigning championsBrazil to put the Netherlands into the final.[9] Neeskens scored the opening goal of the 1974 World Cup final againstWest Germany with apenalty kick after only two minutes of play.[16]
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 timeArgentina, going down 3–1 after extra time (the score at the end of regulation was 1–1).[11]
Neeskens's international appearances were fewer in number after he moved to the New York Cosmos. He declined the keyUEFA Euro 1980 qualifier against East Germany in November 1979, citing physical and emotional exhaustion.[11] After his nine-month ban for club absences was lifted, he was reintroduced to the national squad by managerKees Rijvers in late 1981 for two qualifiers to the1982 FIFA World Cup. He was cheered in a 3–0 home win over Belgium, but the team lost 2–0 away toFrance in his final game and missed out on the final tournament.[11]
Guus Hiddink appointed Neeskens as assistant coach for the Netherlands in 1995.[11] They led the team at the1998 FIFA World Cup.[17] He remained in the role under successorFrank Rijkaard, who led the national team in its co-hosting ofEuro 2000.[18] In 2000 he was appointed coach of Dutch sideNEC 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.[19]
In December 2005, Neeskens was appointed assistant coach of theAustralia national team, once again at the request of Guus Hiddink, theSocceroos's manager.[17] He worked alongside Hiddink andGraham Arnold as part of theirWorld Cup 2006 campaign, and was desired byFootball Australia to replaceRussia-bound Hiddink after the tournament.[20]
After the 2006 World Cup, Neeskens returned to FC Barcelona to replaceHenk ten Cate in the club's technical staff, reuniting with Rijkaard.[20] In May 2008, Rijkaard was dismissed with one year remaining of his contract after finishing third in La Liga, with his assistants Neeskens andEusebio Sacristán leaving with him.[21]
Neeskens joined Frank Rijkaard atGalatasaray as his assistant manager in 2009, and left the club alongside Rijkaard in October 2010.[22] He became the coach of South African clubMamelodi 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 toBloemfontein Celtic.[23]
Speaking of Neeskens, theUEFA 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. Abox-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 teammateSjaak Swart."[24]
Neeskens had begun his career as a right-back for Heemstede, but was moved into midfield by Ajax managerȘtefan Kovács. He played in theTotal Football team designed by Kovács's predecessorRinus Michels, in which players were expected to change position fluidly.[9]
Neeskens was married twice: to Marianne Schiphof in 1974 with whom he had a son, and to Swiss-born Marlis von Reding in 1985, with whom he had two daughters and a son.[11][9][25]John Neeskens, a Dutchman who also played in Spain, was incorrectly assumed to be his son.[26]
Neeskens died while in Algeria on 6 October 2024, at the age of 73.[28] He was in the country as part of a KNVB coaching project, and had suffered a heart attack.[11]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| RCH | 1968–69[29][30] | Eerste Divisie | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 35 | 0 | |||
| 1969–70[29][30] | Eerste Divisie | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 35 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 68 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 1 | ||
| Ajax | 1970–71[30] | Eredivisie | 33 | 1 | 6 | 2 | – | 9[a] | 2 | – | 48 | 5 | ||
| 1971–72[30] | Eredivisie | 28 | 10 | 5 | 2 | – | 8[a] | 0 | – | 41 | 12 | |||
| 1972–73[30] | Eredivisie | 32 | 7 | 1 | 0 | – | 7[a] | 0 | 3[b] | 1 | 43 | 8 | ||
| 1973–74[30] | Eredivisie | 31 | 14 | 4 | 0 | – | 2[a] | 0 | 2[c] | 1 | 37 | 15 | ||
| Total | 124 | 32 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 169 | 40 | ||
| Barcelona | 1974–75[31] | La Liga | 27 | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | 7[a] | 1 | – | 34 | 8 | ||
| 1975–76[31] | La Liga | 32 | 12 | 0 | 0 | – | 9[d] | 6 | – | 41 | 18 | |||
| 1976–77[31] | La Liga | 33 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | 8[d] | 1 | – | 41 | 9 | |||
| 1977–78[31] | La Liga | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 7[d] | 1 | – | 27 | 3 | |||
| 1978–79[31] | La Liga | 30 | 6 | 1 | 0 | – | 9[e] | 0 | – | 40 | 6 | |||
| Total | 140 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 183 | 44 | ||
| New York Cosmos | 1979[29] | NASL | 13 | 4 | 13 | 4 | ||||||||
| 1980[29] | NASL | 17 | 4 | 17 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1981[29] | NASL | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1982[29] | NASL | 17 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1983[29] | NASL | 23 | 2 | 23 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1984[29] | NASL | 18 | 5 | 18 | 5 | |||||||||
| Total | 94 | 17 | ||||||||||||
| Groningen | 1984–85[30] | Eredivisie | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | ||
| South Florida Sun | 1985[citation needed] | USL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Kansas City Comets | 1985–86[29] | MISL | 23 | 1 | 23 | 1 | ||||||||
| Löwenbrau | 1986–87 | |||||||||||||
| Baar | 1987–88[29] | 9 | 1 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1988–89[29] | 13 | 4 | 13 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 1989–90[29] | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | 23 | 5 | 23 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Zug | 1990–91[29] | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Career total | 450+ | 91+ | 21+ | 4+ | 64+ | 11+ | 5+ | 2+ | 540+ | 108+ | ||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Total | 49 | 17 | |
Barcelona[33]
New York Cosmos[33]
Netherlands[33]
Individual
Awards | |
|---|---|
Netherlands squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
