For a relatively small country of just 18 million people (as of 2024), the Netherlands has produced many world-class footballers over the years. Towering above all of them is the late, great Johan Cruyff, who sadly died in 2016 at the age of just 68. The former Ajax and Barcelona star is among the greatest footballers of all time, not to mention being the only major star with a turn named after him!
Cruyff was a huge influence, tactically and in terms of football intelligence, on Pep Guardiola, and so in many ways his ideas live on today, with other great managers influenced by the Dutch great too. Asked to name the greatest Dutch player of all time, few would hesitate to name Cruyff, whose son Jordi played for Man United.
Indeed, Cruyff is perhaps the only Dutch player who really transcends his era, in the sense of being very well-known even to fans who were not around to see him play. However, for those football aficionados of an older vintage, the name of Johan Neeskens is one that conjures up a player almost as good as the legendary Cruyff.
On behalf of the Cruyff family, rest in peace, Johan Neeskens pic.twitter.com/xiGdes2590
— Johan Cruyff (@JohanCruyff) October 7, 2024
Neeskens played alongside his compatriot for both Ajax and Barca, and of course for the brilliant Dutch side of the 1970s. Another Dutch legend, Rinus Michels, managed all three of those teams, and he undoubtedly played a huge part in the careers of both men. Michels died in 2005 and now Neeskens too has passed, dying in Algeria on the 6th of October 2024 at the age of 73.
It would be nice to think of those three footballing gods being reunited in heaven, or something like it, to discuss tactics. If we had to have a bet on it, pleasant and reassuring though that image might be, we would wager that no such place exists but all three live on in the memories of those who saw them play and in the football innovations they brought about.
All football fans have heard of Cruyff, whilst Michels is also familiar to many for his role in creating Total Football, but less is generally known about Neeskens. Let’s put that right.
Limited Managerial Career
Rather than starting at the beginning, and being all predictable, we’ll put the end first, a little like a defender unexpectedly popping up in the number 10 role. His managerial career was not a huge success, although he worked in a range of jobs between 1991 and 2012. His coaching career was diverse, to say the least, starting in Switzerland (his wife was Swiss), ending in South Africa, and taking in Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Turkey, as well as national-team positions with Australia and his own country.
He never won anything of note as a manager, or as an assistant, as many of his positions were. However, he assisted Guus Hiddink at two World Cups, in 1998 for Netherlands and 2016 for Australia, and also performed the same duties under Frank Rijkaard at his country’s home Euros in 2000.
But What a Player
For a variety of reasons Neeskens “only” won 49 caps for his country but he played a key role at both the 1974 World Cup and the tournament four years later. His nation lost in the final at both World Cups, and that side was surely the greatest in history not to have won a major tournament. They had several stars at both tournaments, although Cruyff (who won just 48 caps) only featured in the earlier one, retiring from international duty in 1977.
Whilst they had a number of exceptional players, Neeskens was easily the best – and most important – to play in both finals. In 1974 he scored five goals and was the second-top scorer in the tournament. He bagged the opening goal in the final but his side lost 2-1. Four years on he was there again, this time the Dutch going down 3-1 in extra time to Argentina.
Neeskens was also there in 1976, alongside Cruyff, who skippered the side, when the Dutch finished third at the Euros, again losing 3-1 in extra time, this time to Czechoslovakia. Neeskens was dismissed in that game, a very bad-tempered affair in which Cruyff was booked in the first minute and three players were sent off in all!
Club Honours Aplenty
Whilst there was huge disappointment in orange for Neeskens and his cohort of Dutch greats – or nearly men if we’re being harsh – at club level he had far more joy. He was part of one of the great club teams the game has seen, winning the European Cup (now the Champions League) three years in a row with Ajax from 1970/71 onwards. That side also won the Eredivisie in 1972 and 1973, the Dutch Cup in 1971 and 1972, the Intercontinental Cup (playing against the best South American side) in 1972, and the European Super Cup in both 1972 and 1973. Put another way, in 1972 they pretty much won everything!
Neeskens also won a domestic and European trophy (the Cup Winners’ Cup) with Barca, plus two North American Soccer Leagues with New York Cosmos. On an individual level, he took the Silver Boot at the 1974 World Cup and was named in the team of the tournament, as well as making the FIFA 100 list released in 2004, being named La Liga’s best foreign player in 1975/76 and being ranked 64th in a 2017 list of the game’s greatest players compiled by football magazine FourFourTwo.
Style and Club Career
Neeskens was born in 1951 in the wealthy town of Heemstede in the North Holland province. He began at local club RCH, playing two seasons there before joining Ajax where he really made his name. He played 150 times for Ajax in four glorious seasons, scoring 35 goals from midfield. He then went to Barcelona, scoring 35 La Liga goals over five seasons and 140 league games.
Neeskens played for Barça from 1974 to 1979 and was assistant coach to Frank Rijkaard from 2006 to 2008. https://t.co/KmKvytDj71
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 7, 2024
After that, he moved to America for six seasons, perhaps leaving European football too early, with the end of his career not coming until he was almost 40, in Switzerland, with Zug. In between he played, often briefly, for Groningen, South Florida Sun, Kansas City Comets, Lowenbrau and Baar.
Apart from 1980, he played for his country every year between 1970 and 1981 inclusive and in his 49 caps scored 17 goals. For club and country, he was an incredibly committed, determined player and an excellent foil for the silkier Cruyff. That said, whilst he was described by UEFA as a “steel-hard midfielder” and also “a tireless runner”, he was also technically excellent and possessed great football intelligence.
In addition, like many Dutch players of the era, he was very flexible. Whilst chiefly a box-to-box midfielder performing centrally or from the right in a typical Dutch midfield three, he could also play in defence, or as a striker. A great player, he’ll be long remembered. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll be talking football with his old pals, somewhere in the cosmos.