Johannes Jacobus Neeskens is a Dutch football manager and former player.
14 Facts About Johan Neeskens
2.
Johan Neeskens later became head coach of the Netherlands B national team until June 2009, at which date he has been appointed as the assistant coach to Frank Rijkaard at Galatasaray.
3.
Johan Neeskens adapted well to his new central midfield role because he was a tireless runner, had great technical skills and scored his fair share of goals.
4.
Ajax completed a hat-trick of European Cup wins between 1971 and 1973, and Johan Neeskens moved on to FC Barcelona in 1974 to join Cruyff and Michels.
5.
Johan Neeskens then played for FC Baar and FC Zug in Switzerland, finally retiring in 1991.
6.
Johan Neeskens was capped 49 times for the Netherlands national team, scoring 17 goals.
7.
Johan Neeskens made his debut against East Germany in 1970, and played a crucial role in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, playing in central midfield.
8.
Johan Neeskens scored the opening goal of the 1974 World Cup final against West Germany with a penalty kick after only two minutes of play.
9.
Four years later, Johan Neeskens was a crucial player for the Netherlands, in the absence of Cruyff who had retired from international football in 1977.
10.
Johan Neeskens was then appointed as coach of Dutch side NEC Nijmegen, leading them to their first European appearance in twenty years in 2003, but was fired in 2004 because of poor results.
11.
In December 2005, Johan Neeskens was appointed assistant coach of the Australia national team, at the request of Guus Hiddink, the Socceroos's manager at the time.
12.
Johan Neeskens worked alongside Hiddink and Graham Arnold as part of their World Cup 2006 campaign, and even afterwards he remained involved with the Australian national team: on 7 October 2006, under contract with FC Barcelona, Neeskens was alongside the Australia national team's bench in a friendly match between Paraguay while visiting Australia for a short break.
13.
Johan Neeskens joined Frank Rijkaard at Galatasaray as his assistant manager in 2009.
14.
Johan Neeskens became the coach of South Africa-based club, Mamelodi Sundowns FC in 2011.