'Kamikaze pilot'

Four years later, in Argentina, as Cruyff opted to stay at home, Neeskens was again a key part of the Dutch team that reached the final.

He was injured early in a group stage loss to Scotland and missed the revenge victory over West Germany. He returned for the last two matches, including the 3-1 extra time defeat, as the Dutch, again, lost the final to the host nation.

By then, Neeskens had followed Cruyff to Catalonia, where Barcelona fans dubbed the midfielder "Johan the Second".

In five years at Barca, he won a Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners' Cup, before heading to the United States for five seasons with the star-studded New York Cosmos.

Bobby Haarms, Michels' assistant at Ajax, was quoted in Brilliant Orange, a book on Dutch soccer by David Winner, as saying Neeskens was "like a kamikaze pilot".

He coached in the Netherlands, Turkiye, Switzerland and South Africa, and spent more than four years as Netherlands assistant coach, first under Guus Hiddink and then Frank Rijkaard.

He was also Rijkaard's assistant at Barcelona and Hiddink's assistant with Australia.

AFP