Hague. Johan Neeskens, former Dutch international and player, among others, for the Barcelona club during Johan Cruyff’s era, died at the age of 73 this Monday, according to the Dutch Football Federation.
“With Johan Neeskens, the world of Dutch and international football loses a legend,” the federation said in a statement, adding that the player died on Sunday of an unspecified illness.
He also announced that a minute of silence will be observed in the next two international matches against Hungary and Germany.
Neeskens joined the Blaugrana club from Ajax Amsterdam, where he won three consecutive European Cups in the early 1970s.
“We deeply regret the death of Johan Neeskens. A Barça legend who will always be in our memory. May he rest in peace,” FC Barcelona published on its X network account.
For its part, Ajax wrote in X: “We are deeply saddened by the news of the death of Johan Neeskens. Our thoughts are with his family at this time. Rest in peace, Ajax legend.”
Two historic finals
Neeskens was part of the Dutch team that reached two World Cup finals in a row (1974, 1978), a team that went down in history for its exquisite play and the nickname ‘A Clockwork Orange’, despite not winning any of them. the two World Cup events.
The player was characterized by being tireless and having the ability to run up and down the field and participate in both defense and attack.
He started as a right back but with the arrival of coach Rinus Michels, who established the ‘total football’ that Cruyff later put into practice, he moved to the middle of the field.
“With his characteristic tackles, his great insight and his iconic penalties, he will continue to be one of the best players that Dutch football has ever produced,” stressed the Dutch federation.
One of the most loved in Barcelona
At Barcelona, he teamed up with his compatriot Johan Cruyff, in fact he was given the nickname Johan II. He was a Barça player from 1974 to 1979, played 233 games and scored 54 goals.
This Monday’s statement from Barça recalls how “he conquered the Barcelona fans thanks to his limitless drive. And he spared no effort thanks to his impressive physical strength combined with absolute dedication.”
The most important date in his career at the Catalan club is the historic victory in Basel on May 16, 1979, in which Barça won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, contested by the Cup champions in their respective countries. It was the first European title for the Barça club.
That match is remembered in Barcelona not only for the victory in extra time against Fortuna Düsseldorf (4-3), but also because it mobilized almost 30 thousand Barcelona fans, who traveled to the Swiss city.
The Dutchman left the club in 1979, after also winning the Copa del Rey (1977-1978). In 2006 he returned as assistant coach under Frank Rijkaard until 2008.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘133913093805922’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Contact’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Donate’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘FindLocation’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Lead’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Search’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘Subscribe’, {value: ‘0.00’, currency: ‘MXN’, predicted_ltv: ‘0.00’});
fbq(‘track’, ‘ViewContent’);
#footballer #Johan #Neeskens #symbol #Clockwork #Orange #dies
–
