The former Dutch footballer Johan Neeskens, who played for Ajax and FC Barcelona and was a three-time European champion and runner-up in the world, has died at the age of 73, as reported this Monday by the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB).
The organization indicated that the death of the former player occurred this Sunday when he was in Algeria, where Neeskens had stayed to participate in the KNVB’s own ‘WorldCoaches’ project. “Words are insufficient for this enormous and sudden loss. Our thoughts are with his wife Marlis, his children, family and friends. The world not only says goodbye to a talented athlete, but especially to a committed, motivated and wonderful human being” , lamented the federation.
FC Barcelona, where Neeskens played between 1974 and 1979 and was Frank Rijkaard’s assistant during his time as Blaugrana coach, also showed its regret. “Football is in mourning, especially the Barça and Dutch families, after learning that the former player and former assistant coach of FC Barcelona Johan Neeskens has died at the age of 73,” he said on his website.
“Ajax has learned of the death of Johan Neeskens with deep sadness. With him, Ajax has lost one of its best and most beloved former players,” stressed the Amsterdam team, where he began to show his talent and build a successful career. alongside his idol, Johan Cruyff.
As an ‘ajacied’ footballer, he was part of the team that dazzled at the beginning of the 70s with the conquest of three consecutive European Cups (1971, 1972 and 1973). In 1974, he was signed by FC Barcelona, where he played 233 games, scored 54 goals and won a Cup Winners’ Cup (1979) and a Copa del Rey (1978). In 1979 he ended his time at the Blaugrana club, to which he would return in 2006 under the guidance of his compatriot Frank Rijkaard as second coach.
Neeskens, who also played for the popular American Cosmos and retired in 1991 in the modest Swiss Zug, also had an outstanding international career with his country’s national team, with which he played in two World Cup finals, in 1974 and 1978. both lost to the Federal Republic of Germany (2-1) and Argentina (3-1), respectively. He debuted with the ‘Oranje’ at the age of 19 and wore their shirt 49 times, scoring 17 goals, one of them in the World Cup final against the Germans.