Johan Neeskens

Johan Neeskens
Neeskens in 1974
Personal information
Full name Johannes Jacobus Neeskens[1]
Date of birth (1951-09-15) 15 September 1951 (age 73)
Place of birth Heemstede, Netherlands
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
Men's football
Representing  Netherlands
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1974
Runner-up 1978
UEFA European Championship
Third place 1976
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Johannes Jacobus Neeskens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjoːɦɑn ˈneːskə(n)s]; born 15 September 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former 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.[3][4][5] In 2004, he was named one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony,[6] while in 2017 he has been included in the FourFourTwo list of the 100 all-time greatest players, at the 64th position.[7]

After his retirement in 1991, Neeskens was the assistant manager to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona but was sacked along with Rijkaard at the end of the 2007–08 season. He later became head coach of the Netherlands B national team until June 2009,[8] when he became assistant manager to Frank Rijkaard at Galatasaray, a job he held until 2010.[9]

  1. ^ "Johannes Jacobus Neeskens". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Johan Neeskens". worldfootball.net.
  3. ^ "FC Barcelona: El problema fecal de Núñez que echó a Neeskens del Barça - Marca.com". marca.com. 15 March 2016.
  4. ^ "El Real Madrid ficha al hijo de Neeskens - MARCA.com". marca.com.
  5. ^ "Johan Neeskens - FC Barcelona". FC Barcelona.
  6. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  7. ^ Yorkhin, Michael (25 July 2017). "FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: 60 to 51". FourFourtwo. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Neeskens to lead Netherlands B team". UEFA.com. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  9. ^ Johan Neeskens in İstanbul. Galatasaray.org. Retrieved on 29 June 2011.