LJohan Cruyff’s former favorite lieutenant, Dutch midfielder Johan Neeskens has died. He was 73 years old. The Dutch football federation (KNVB) announced his death on Monday afternoon.
Nicknamed “Johan II”, Neeskens shone in the shadow of his prestigious elder, with whom he shared the first name, both at Ajax Amsterdam (between 1970 and 1974) and at FC Barcelona (between 1974 and 1979) or with the Netherlands (from 1970 to 1981).
An indispensable element of total football created by Ajax, he won three consecutive European Champion Club Cups with Amsterdam (1971, 1972, 1973), an Intercontinental Cup (1972), a European Super Cup (1973), two Dutch league titles and two National Cups.
In 1974 he then joined Johan Cruyff at Barça, whom the triple Ballon d’Or had joined twelve months earlier. He won a Spanish Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup there.
A recovering defensive midfielder, very tough on man, he also distinguished himself in the national team where he played in the brilliant campaign at the 1974 World Cup which ended with a final lost to Germany (2- 1) and that in Argentina in 1978, where the Oranje also lost the final (3-1 after extra time) against the organizing country. In the meantime, he finished 3rd in Euro 1976.
He became an international at 19 and went on to wear the Dutch jersey 49 times, scoring 17 goals, including 5 in the World Cup, and providing 5 assists.
After his playing career which again saw him play in the United States (New York Cosmos from 1979-1984) or in Groningen before hanging up his boots in Zug, Switzerland, in 1991, he became a coach. He was the deputy of Guus Hiddink and Frank Rijkaard at the head of the Netherlands (1995-2000) then found Hiddink with Australia at the 2006 World Cup, then Rijkaard at Barcelona and Galatasaray. His last position was as manager of Sundowns in South Africa between 2011 and December 2012.
Johan Neeskens was working for the Dutch federation (KNVB) in Algeria as part of the WorldCoaches action in recent days. He suffered a malaise there. Medical treatment failed to save her. He was married and the father of four children.
