Johan Neeskens

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Johan Neeskens
Personal information
Full name	Johannes Jacobus Neeskens
Date of birth	September 15, 1951 (age 55)
Place of birth	Heemstede, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Nickname	Johan Segundo ("Johan the Second") De Nees
Playing position	Midfielder, Manager
Club information
Current club	FC Barcelona (assistant manager)
Youth clubs
1968-1969	RCH Heemstede
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1969-1973 1974-1979 1979-1984 1984-1985 1986-1987 1988-1990 1990-1991	Ajax Barcelona New York Cosmos FC Groningen Fort Lauderdale Sun FC Baar FC Zug	140 (35)
National team
1974-1981	Netherlands	049 (17)
Teams managed
1991-1993 1993-1995 1995-1996 1995-2000 2000-2004 2005-2006 2006-	FC Zug FC Stäfa FC Singen Netherlands (assistant manager) NEC Nijmegen Australia (assistant manager) FC Barcelona (assistant manager)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Johannes ("Johan") Jacobus Neeskens (born September 15, 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. As a player, he was an important member of the Dutch national team that finished as runner-ups in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups. He is currently assistant coach to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona.

Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Coaching career 4 Trivia 5 External links

[edit] Club career

Neeskens, a native of Heemstede, Noord-Holland, started his career at RCH Heemstede in 1968, before being spotted by Rinus Michels and signed for Ajax in 1969. The youngster impressed at right-back, playing in that position for Ajax in the 1971 European Cup Final win against Panathinaikos. During the 1971-72 season, Neeskens took up more of a central midfield role, in support of Johan Cruijff, but was equally adept in central defence. Ajax completed a hat-trick of European Cup wins in 1972 and 1973, and Neeskens moved on to FC Barcelona in 1974 to join Cruijff and Michels. There he was nicknamed Johan Segundo.

While his time at Barça was relatively unsuccessful (one cup title ('78) and the 1979 Cup Winners' Cup), he was hugely popular amongst the fans. In 1979, he accepted an offer from the New York Cosmos, spending 5 years at the club. Winding down his career, he also played for FC Groningen (1984-85), Fort Lauderdale Sun (1986-87), FC Baar (1988-90) and FC Zug in Switzerland, finally hanging up his boots in 1991.

[edit] International career

Neeskens was capped 49 times for his country, scoring 17 goals. He made his debut against East Germany, and played a crucial role in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, playing in central midfield. Neeskens scored the opening goal of the 1974 World Cup final against West Germany on a penalty kick after only 2 minutes of play.

Four years later, Neeskens was a crucial player for the Dutch (despite a rib injury suffered in the Scotland defeat), in the absence of Cruijff who had retired from international football in 1977. The Netherlands again reached the final, only to lose to the hosts, this time Argentina, going down 3-1. He played his final international game in 1981 in a 2-0 defeat against France in a qualifier for the 1982 World Cup.

Neeskens was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

[edit] Coaching career

At the request of Guus Hiddink, Neeskens along with Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman, acted as assistant coach for the Dutch national team during the qualifiers and the finals of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After Hiddink stepped down as national coach after the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he performed the same role during the reign of Frank Rijkaard as national coach up until the end of Euro 2000. He was then appointed as coach of Dutch side NEC Nijmegen leading them to their first European appearance in twenty years in 2003, but was sacked in 2004 because of poor results.

In December 2005, Neeskens was appointed the assistant coach of the Australian national team, once again at the request of Guus Hiddink, the Socceroos's manager at the time. He worked along side Hiddink and Graham Arnold as part of their World Cup 2006 campaign. When the Australian national anthem Advance Australia Fair was played before the Japan and Brazil games, he was seen to have sung along.

After the World Cup, he returned to his former club FC Barcelona to replace Henk ten Cate in the club's technical staff, reuniting with Frank Rijkaard. The 3 year deal was signed when Neeskens flew in from Germany following Australia's opening win over Japan. On the 7th October 2006 Neeskens was alongside the Australian national team's bench in a friendly match between Paraguay while visiting Australia for a short break.

[edit] Trivia

Neeskens was known for his cold-blooded penalty kicks. He tended to blast the ball high into the middle of the goal, speculating that the goalie would always dive into a corner and would thus be unable to make the save.^{[citation needed]}

	Netherlands squad - 1974 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Geels | 2 Haan | 3 van Hanegem | 4 van Ierssel | 5 Israël | 6 Jansen | 7 de Jong | 8 Jongbloed | 9 Keizer | 10 R. van de Kerkhof | 11 W. van de Kerkhof | 12 Krol | 13 Neeskens | 14 Cruijff | 15 Rensenbrink | 16 Rep | 17 Rijsbergen | 18 Schrijvers | 19 Strik | 20 Suurbier | 21 Treijtel | 22 Vos | Coach: Michels

	Netherlands squad - 1978 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Schrijvers | 2 Poortvliet | 3 Schoenaker | 4 van Kraay | 5 Krol | 6 Jansen | 7 Wildschut | 8 Jongbloed | 9 Haan | 10 R. van de Kerkhof | 11 W. van de Kerkhof | 12 Rensenbrink | 13 Neeskens | 14 Boskamp | 15 Hovenkamp | 16 Rep | 17 Rijsbergen | 18 Nanninga | 19 Doesburg | 20 Suurbier | 21 Lubse | 22 Brandts | Coach: Happel

[edit] External links

• Grandes Futbolistas en la Historia de los Mundiales: Johan Neeskens (1974, 1978)[1]
• (Dutch) Profile