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Netherlands star Johan Neeskens, who played in 2 World Cup finals, dies at age 73

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Netherlands star Johan Neeskens, who played in 2 World Cup finals, dies at age 73
Sport

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Netherlands star Johan Neeskens, who played in 2 World Cup finals, dies at age 73

2024-10-07 23:14 Last Updated At:23:21

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Johan Neeskens, one of the midfield stars of the Netherlands' “Clockwork Orange” teams of the 1970s alongside Johan Cruyff, has died. He was 73.

The Dutch soccer association KNVB said on Monday that Neeskens died the previous day in Algeria, where he was taking part in a coaching project it organized. No cause of death was announced.

“Words fail to capture the enormity and suddenness of this loss,” the KNVB said in a statement on its website. ”Our thoughts are with his wife Marlis, his children, family and friends.

“The world not only says goodbye to a gifted sportsman but, above all, to a compassionate, driven and wonderful person.”

Neeskens lost two successive World Cup finals.

He scored from the penalty spot to give his team an early 1-0 lead in the 1974 showpiece but the Netherlands, known for its fluent brand of “total football,” went on to lose to West Germany 2-1 in Munich.

“The most beautiful football doesn't always win,” he said later, according to the KNVB. “But it’s incredible to me that people all over the world still talk about that Dutch team. The best and most beautiful football, total football.”

Neeskens was in the team four years later when they fell agonizingly short of the world title, losing to host Argentina 3-1 after extra time in Buenos Aires.

Neeskens played 49 internationals for the Netherlands, including 12 at World Cups, and scored 17 goals.

Current Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman paid tribute to Neeskens, calling him “a small man who was my big idol.”

“As a young boy you played soccer on the street and you asked, ‘Who wants to be Cruyff? Who wants to be (Willem) van Hanegem?’ I wanted to be Johan Neeskens," Koeman added.

Neeskens won the European Cup, the predecessor of the Champions League, three times as part of the dominant Ajax team of the early '70s and went on to play for Barcelona and then the New York Cosmos among other teams.

“We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Johan Neeskens. Our thoughts are with his family at this time. Rest in peace, Ajax legend,” the Amsterdam club said on X.

Barcelona, referring to the club's nickname, called Neeskens “A blaugrana legend who will forever be in our memory. Rest in peace.”

At a reunion of the players from the 1974 World Cup final, Neeskens explained what he believed was the key to a team's success.

“The collective, that's what it's all about,” he said according to the KNVB. “You need each other on the field. You can only become a champion as a team. There is only one star and that is the team.”

After his playing career, Neeskens was an assistant coach for both the Netherlands and Australia.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - File - Sweden's Bjoern Nordqvist, right, and Johan Neeskens of the Netherlands, center, challenge for the ball during their World Cup football match at the Westfalen Stadium in Dortmund, Germany on June 19, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - File - Sweden's Bjoern Nordqvist, right, and Johan Neeskens of the Netherlands, center, challenge for the ball during their World Cup football match at the Westfalen Stadium in Dortmund, Germany on June 19, 1974. (AP Photo, File)

File - Germany's Rainer Bonhof, right, and Johan Neeskens of the Netherlands challenge for the ball during the finals of the Soccer World Cup, on July 7, 1974, at the Olympic Stadium, in Munich, Germany. (AP-Photo/stf, File)

File - Germany's Rainer Bonhof, right, and Johan Neeskens of the Netherlands challenge for the ball during the finals of the Soccer World Cup, on July 7, 1974, at the Olympic Stadium, in Munich, Germany. (AP-Photo/stf, File)

FILE - FC Barcelonas new assistant coach Johan Neeskens, from The Netherlands, gestures during his presentation ceremony after signing a three-year contract with the Spanish first divison club at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

FILE - FC Barcelonas new assistant coach Johan Neeskens, from The Netherlands, gestures during his presentation ceremony after signing a three-year contract with the Spanish first divison club at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tempers flared on the field and in the stands at Dodger Stadium, with rowdy fans tossing baseballs, apparently at San Diego left fielder Jurickson Profar, and then trash that caused a 12-minute wait between pitches during the seventh inning of the Padres' 10-2 win in NL Division Series Game 2 on Sunday night.

“That's just not acceptable,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.

There were words exchanged between Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty and Padres slugger Manny Machado, who took exception to Flaherty hitting Fernando Tatis Jr.

“Well, shoot, I’ve seen over a thousand games here, well over a thousand games in this ballpark, and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It was ugly.”

Profar had robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the first inning, reaching into the stands behind the low left-field wall. Left field umpire Adrian Johnson circled his arm signaling a home run.

But Profar battled the outstretched arms of fans, reeling in the ball on the webbing of his glove and helping spark the Padres to evening the best-of-five series at one game each.

“He tried," Profar said of a fan who tried to snatch the ball. "I dunked on him.”

Profar hopped away backward as he stared at the astonished fans, then threw the ball to the infield. Later, there were verbal exchanges between fans and Profar.

“He said the fans out there were trying to get it out of his glove,” Padres slugger Manny Machado said. “What a hell of a catch to start off the game."

With San Diego leading 4-1 and Yu Darvish warming up for the bottom of the seventh, fans appeared to be yelling at Profar, who motioned back at them with his right arm.

A couple of balls were thrown. Johnson came up to him, soon joined by Shildt, San Diego players and more umpires. Profar yelled and pointed before teammate Xander Bogaerts put an arm around him and Padres players, including Darvish, formed a huddle.

“Yes, I was upset. You can hurt somebody,” Profar said. “I hope our people in San Diego don’t do that.”

Profar said Dodgers fans “wanted to start throwing stuff on the field yesterday.”

Roberts said, "Obviously there’s a lot of emotions and things like that. But that’s something that should never happen.”

Dodgers security staff attempted to identify the fans who caused the trouble. Officer Drake Madison, an LAPD spokesperson, said “there were no arrests and no radio calls.”

“We were looking for a higher security presence out in the left-field corner to ensure that that behavior didn’t continue and to make sure that if anybody did throw anything out on the field they would be identified immediately and removed from the stadium,” umpire crew chief Dan Bellino said.

Public address announcer Todd Leitz told the crowd: “We ask that you do not throw objects onto the field.”

“You’re in a tough environment,” Machado said. “You’re going to get some things said to you but once you start throwing things onto the field that’s just uncalled for.”

There was trash on the warning track in right field near the Padres bullpen.

“Now we had a second instance that was happening at a different part of the stadium, so we just had to reiterate with security that we needed an enhanced security out in right field as well,” Bellino said.

After the seventh inning, Machado gathered his teammates for a brief meeting in their dugout.

Machado said his message was “just stay focused.”

Flaherty hit Tatis with a pitch in the sixth inning, and Profar exchanged words with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

“You can’t get him out, don’t hit him,” Machado said. “They got the best player in the game, (Shohei) Ohtani. We don’t go out there and try to hit Ohtani. We try to get him out.”

Flaherty struck Machado out swinging with Tatis and another runner on in the sixth.

“He did some s—- in between innings. He threw a ball at our dugout,” Flaherty said. “There was no reason for that.”

Asked about Flaherty's accusation, Machado said, “I throw balls all the time into dugouts. Both dugouts. They have bad balls, you throw the ball back in there.”

Bellino said the situation never escalated to the point umpires considered directing players off the field.

“We would not hesitate to do that if we thought that their safety was in jeopardy,” he said. “And if that was to proceed, then obviously it would be referred to the commissioner’s pffice to see if a potential forfeit would be called for.”

The best-of-five series moves to Petco Park for Game 3 on Tuesday.

“We’re about to go back to San Diego with a very, very loud, raucous, aggressive, hungry crowd that’s going to be super-excited and going to be getting after it,” Shildt said, before borrowing a line from the Will Ferrell comedy “Anchorman.”

“But I know also that we’ll stay classy, San Diego.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. is hit by a pitch during the sixth inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. is hit by a pitch during the sixth inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, left, is held back by teammates after he protested with umpires when items were thrown at him in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, left, is held back by teammates after he protested with umpires when items were thrown at him in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, second from right, and third baseman Manny Machado talk to the umpires after items were thrown at Profar in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, second from right, and third baseman Manny Machado talk to the umpires after items were thrown at Profar in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt (8) and players talk to umpires after items were thrown on the field by fans during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt (8) and players talk to umpires after items were thrown on the field by fans during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Fans react toward San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, foreground, after items were thrown at him in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padres, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Fans react toward San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, foreground, after items were thrown at him in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padres, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, right, talks to umpire Adrian Johnson after items were thrown at Profar in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, right, talks to umpire Adrian Johnson after items were thrown at Profar in the outfield during the seventh inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish, middle right, talks with third baseman Manny Machado (13), shortstop Xander Bogaerts, middle left, and catcher Kyle Higashioka on the mound during the sixth inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish, middle right, talks with third baseman Manny Machado (13), shortstop Xander Bogaerts, middle left, and catcher Kyle Higashioka on the mound during the sixth inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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