Johan Neeskens, Dutch star of the A Clockwork Orange era, dies at 73

Johan Neeskens, one of the stars of the so-called “Clockwork Orange” of the Netherlands, who played with Johan Cruyff in the seventies, has died. He was 73 years old.

The Dutch football association, KNVB, with its figures in Dutch, confirmed on Monday that Neeskens died on Sunday in Algiers, where he was staying as part of a coaching project he organized. They did not name the cause of his death.

“Words are not enough to convey the greatness and sadness of this loss,” the KNVB statement said. “Our thoughts are with his wife Marlys, his children, family and friends.”

“The world says goodbye not only to a gifted footballer, but most of all to an incredibly compassionate and driven man.”

Neeskens lost two World Championship finals in a row.

He scored a penalty to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 1974 final, but the Netherlands, known for their freestyle style of play called “total football”, lost 2-1 to West Germany in Munich.

“The most beautiful football does not always win,” he said later, as reported by KNVB. “But it’s amazing to me that people all over the world are still talking about this team. The best and most beautiful football, total football.”

Four years later, Neeskens found himself in a team that came agonizingly close to the title and lost 3-1 in overtime to Argentina.

Neeskens played 49 international matches for the Netherlands, including 12 at the World Cup, and scored 17 goals.

He won the European Cup three times with dominant Ajax in the early 1970s and was also a player for Barcelona and New York Cosmos.

“We are incredibly sad to hear of the passing of Johan Neeskens. Our thoughts are with his family right now. Rest in peace, Ajax legend,” the Amsterdam club said on the social network X.

After his playing career, Neeskens was an assistant for the Dutch and Australian national teams.