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The world not only says goodbye to a gifted sportsman but above all, to a compassionate, driven, and wonderful person. - Foto: KNVB Media
Johan Neeskens (September 15, 1951 – October 6, 2024) Sunday, October 6. An autumn day that began sunny, until the news from Algeria reached us that Johan Neeskens had passed away. Johan was in Algeria for the KNVB’s WorldCoaches project. Words fail to capture the enormity and suddenness of this loss. Our thoughts are with his wife Marlis, his children, family, and friends.
The world not only says goodbye to a gifted sportsman but above all, to a compassionate, driven, and wonderful person. As a player, Johan Neeskens played for Ajax, Barcelona, and clubs in the United States. He ended his career in Switzerland, where he continued to live for most of the year. As a coach, he also traveled around the world—Switzerland, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, and South Africa.
Johan Neeskens (at the right) with Johan Cruijff and Rinus Michels.
The Heemstede-born midfielder made 49 appearances for the Dutch national team. On the pitch, he was a true driving force. He gave his all in every duel, never gave up, covered the entire field, frequently appeared in the opponent’s penalty area, and scored regularly. He was loved around the world, especially in Amsterdam, Barcelona, New York, and he was proud of wearing the Oranje shirt for 11 years.
Johan Neeskens made his debut at the age of 19 in a European Championship qualifier against East Germany. In Dresden, on November 11, 1970, Oranje, coached by František Fadrhonc, was defeated 1-0. After this appearance in Dresden, Neeskens played another 48 matches for the national team, always starting in the lineup. He scored 17 goals for the Netherlands, seven of them from the penalty spot.
Johan Neeskens made 49 appearances for the Dutch national team.
His most famous goal from the penalty spot is etched into the collective memory of our nation. The 1974 World Cup final in Munich against West Germany. The match had barely begun when referee Jack Taylor awarded a penalty after a foul on Cruijff. Neeskens shot it—hard and straight down the middle—making it, as it turned out, the first and last time he did so in his career.
"The most beautiful football doesn’t always win," he later said about the lost 1974 World Cup final. "But it’s incredible to me that people, all over the world, still talk about that Dutch team. The best and most beautiful football, total football."
At the next World Cup, four years later in Argentina, the Netherlands once again narrowly missed out on the world title in the final against the host nation Argentina. After his more than impressive playing career, which took him to many places around the world, he became a club coach, coach of national youth teams, and assistant coach under Frank Rijkaard.
His most famous goal from the penalty spot in the World Cup-final of 1974.
But in his later years, Johan Neeskens became best known as the ambassador of KNVB WorldCoaches. This project, for which he traveled around the world to train coaches in low- and middle-income countries, using football as a tool for a better life, was a perfect fit for him.
Being on the field with fellow football enthusiasts, working together towards something beautiful—that was Johan Neeskens in a nutshell. On the field as a player and later off the field as a coach, he was known for his tenacity. But those who were fortunate enough to get to know Johan Neeskens better saw above all a global citizen and a gentle family man who was proud of his children and grandchildren and who continued to inspire others with his love for football until the very end.
Johan Neeskens became best known as the ambassador of KNVB WorldCoaches.
He rarely gave interviews. The former football star preferred a quiet life. However, in March of this year, he took part in a reunion of the Dutch national team that played in the 1974 World Cup final, which put Dutch football on the map. The players from that era attended the Germany-France match in Frankfurt. During an interview there, he summarized his football philosophy in a nutshell: "It’s all about the collective. You need everyone on the field. You can only become a champion as a team. There is only one star, and that is the team."
Johan Neeskens was 73 years old.
