Johan Neeskens
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-->Johannes ("Johan") Jacobus Neeskens (born September 15, 1951 in Heemstede, Noord-Holland) was a Dutch football player and now manager. He was part of the Dutch national team that finished as runner-ups in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups.
-->Neeskens 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 ws nicknamed Johan Segundo.
While his time at Barça was relatively unsuccessful (one league title 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.
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 and providing crucial goals. Indeed, Neeskens scored the opening goal in the World Cup Final against West Germany, scoring after only 80 seconds.
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 FIFA World Cup.
Neeskens was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
At the request of Guus Hiddink, Neeskens 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, who is now the national team manager of the "Socceroos." He now works along side Hiddink and Graham Arnold as part of their World Cup 2006 campaign.
Once the 2006 World Cup concludes, he is set to reunite with his former club FC Barcelona where he will succeed 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. This all being to the dismay of the wide-spread Australian football public, who hoped to maintain him, along with Arnold, in full-time control of the Australian national team, following Hiddink's departure. Any such agreement was lost through the Australian's F.A reluctance to capitalise on his offerings. They have henceforth been subject to major public scutiny for their inability in retaining his services.
Notes
Neeskens was known for his cold-blooded penalty kicks. He liked 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.
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