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| Johan Cruyff, Ajax |
Johan was a genius and a visionary in the world of sport and his loss was a terrible tragedy for everybody because he was one of the most brilliant and intelligent minds of our age. The Grandma is deeply sad with the absence of her greatest idol.
Before remembering Johan Cruyff, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her Intermediate Language Practice manual (Grammar 43).
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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dutch football rose from obscurity to become a powerhouse in the sport. Cruyff led the Netherlands to the final of the 1974 FIFA World Cup and received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. At the 1974 finals, he executed a feint that subsequently was named after him, the Cruyff Turn, a move widely replicated in the modern game. Wearing the number 14 jersey, he set a trend for wearing shirt numbers outside the usual starting line-up numbers of one to eleven.
At club level, Cruyff started his career at Ajax, where he won eight Eredivisie titles, three European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. In 1973, he moved to Barcelona for a world record transfer fee, winning La Liga in his first season and was named European Footballer of the Year.
After retiring from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later Barcelona; he remained an influential advisor to both clubs. His son Jordi also played football professionally.
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| Johan Cruyff, Ajax |
Considered to be one of the most influential figures in football history, Cruyff's style of play and his football philosophy has influenced managers and players, including the likes of Arrigo Sacchi, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola, Frank Rijkaard, Michael Laudrup, Eric Cantona and Xavi.
Ajax and Barcelona are among the clubs that have developed youth academies based on Cruyff's coaching methods. His coaching philosophy helped lay the foundations for the revival of Ajax's international successes in the 1990s. Spanish football's successes at both club and international level during the years 2008 to 2012 have been cited by many as evidence of Cruyff's impact on contemporary football. France Football ranked him at No. 4 on their list of the Top 50 football managers of all time.
More information: Johan Cruyff Institute
Hendrik Johannes Johan Cruijff was born on 25 April 1947 in Amsterdam, on a street five minutes away from Ajax's stadium, his first football club. Johan was the second son of Hermanus Cornelis Cruijff and Petronella Bernarda Draaijer, from a humble, working-class background in east Amsterdam. Cruyff, encouraged by his influential football-loving father and his close proximity in Akkerstraat to the De Meer Stadium, played football with his schoolmates and older brother, Henny, whenever he could, and idolised the prolific Dutch dribbler, Faas Wilkes.
In 1959, Cruyff's father died from a heart attack. His father's death had a major impact on his mentality. As Cruyff recalled, in celebration of his 50th birthday, My father died when I was just 12 and he was 45. From that day the feeling crept stronger over me that I would die at the same age and, when I had serious heart problems when I reached 45, I thought: 'This is it.' Only medical science, which was not available to help my father, kept me alive.
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| Johan Cruyff, Dutch National Team |
Viewing a potential football career as a way of paying tribute to his father, the death inspired the strong-willed Cruyff, who also frequently visited the burial site at Oosterbegraafplaats.
His mother began working at Ajax as a cleaner, deciding that she could no longer carry on at the grocer without her husband, and in the future, this made Cruyff near-obsessed with financial security but also gave him an appreciation for player aids. His mother soon met her second husband, Henk Angel, a field hand at Ajax who proved a key influence in Cruyff's life.
Cruyff joined the Ajax youth system on his tenth birthday. Cruyff and his friends would frequent a playground in their neighbourhood and Ajax youth coach Jany van der Veen, who lived close by, noticed Cruyff's talent and decided to offer him a place at Ajax without a formal trial.
In total that season, Cruyff scored 25 goals in 23 games, and Ajax won the league championship. In the 1966–67 season, Ajax again won the league championship, and also won the KNVB Cup, for Cruyff's first double. Cruyff ended the season as the leading goalscorer in the Eredivisie with 33. Cruyff won the league for the third successive year in the 1967–68 season. He was also named Dutch footballer of the year for the second successive time, a feat he repeated in 1969. On 28 May 1969, Cruyff played in his first European Cup final against Milan.
In the 1969–70 season, Cruyff won his second league and cup double; at the beginning of the 1970–71 season, he suffered a groin injury. Cruyff wore number 14, even with the Dutch national team.
In the 1969–70 season, Cruyff won his second league and cup double; at the beginning of the 1970–71 season, he suffered a groin injury. Cruyff wore number 14, even with the Dutch national team.
On 2 June 1971, in London, Ajax won the European Cup by defeating Panathinaikos 2–0. He signed a seven-year contract at Ajax. At the end of the season, he was named the Dutch and European Footballer of the Year for 1971.
In 1972, Ajax won a second European Cup, beating Inter Milan 2–0 in the final, with Cruyff scoring both goals. This victory prompted Dutch newspapers to announce the demise of the Italian style of defensive football in the face of Total Football.
Ajax won the Intercontinental Cup, beating Argentina's Independiente 1–1 in the first game followed by 3–0, and then in January 1973, they won the European Super Cup by beating Rangers 3–1 away and 3–2 in Amsterdam.
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| Johan Cruyff, FC Barcelona |
Cruyff endeared himself to the Barcelona fans when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, defeating their deadliest rivals Real Madrid 5–0 at their home of the Santiago Bernabéu.
Thousands of Barcelona fans who watched the match on television poured out of their homes to join in street celebrations. A New York Times journalist wrote that Cruyff had done more for the spirit of the Catalan people in 90 minutes than many politicians in years of struggle.
Football historian Jimmy Burns stated, with Cruyff, the team felt they couldn't lose. He gave them speed, flexibility and a sense of themselves. In 1974 Cruyff was crowned European Footballer of the Year.
Thousands of Barcelona fans who watched the match on television poured out of their homes to join in street celebrations. A New York Times journalist wrote that Cruyff had done more for the spirit of the Catalan people in 90 minutes than many politicians in years of struggle.
Football historian Jimmy Burns stated, with Cruyff, the team felt they couldn't lose. He gave them speed, flexibility and a sense of themselves. In 1974 Cruyff was crowned European Footballer of the Year.
During his time at Barcelona, Cruyff scored one of his most famous goals, The Phantom Goal. In a game against Atlético Madrid, Cruyff leapt into the air, twisted his body so he was facing away from the goal, and kicked the ball past Miguel Reina in the Atlético goal with his right heel, the ball was at about neck height and had already travelled wide of the far post.
At the age of 32, Cruyff signed a lucrative deal with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League (NASL).
After his spell in the U.S. and a short-lived stay in Spain, Cruyff returned to play in his homeland, rejoining Ajax on 30 November 1980 as technical advisor to trainer Leo Beenhakker.
At the end of the 1982–83 season, Ajax decided not to offer Cruyff a new contract. This angered Cruyff, who responded by signing for Ajax's archrivals Feyenoord. Cruyff's season at Feyenoord was a successful one in which the club won the Eredivisie for the first time in a decade, part of a league and KNVB Cup double.
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| Johan's Homage, Camp Nou, Barcelona |
On 7 September 1966, he made his official debut for the Netherlands in the UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier against Hungary, scoring in the 2–2 draw. In his second match, a friendly against Czechoslovakia, Cruyff was the first Dutch international to receive a red card. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) banned him from Ajax games but not internationals.
Cruyff led the Netherlands to a runners-up medal in the 1974 World Cup and was named player of the tournament. Cruyff retired from international football in October 1977, having helped the national team qualify for the upcoming World Cup.
After retiring from playing, Cruyff followed in the footsteps of his mentor Rinus Michels, coaching a young Ajax side to victory in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1987 (1–0). In May and June 1985, Cruyff returned to Ajax again.
After having appeared for the club as a player, Cruyff returned to Barcelona for the 1988–89 season, this time to take up his new role as coach of the first team. Before returning to Barcelona, however, Cruyff had already built up plenty of experience as a coach/manager.
With Cruyff, Barça experienced a glorious era. In the space of five years (1989–1994), he led the club to four European finals, two European Cup Winners' Cup finals and two European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals. Cruyff's track record includes one European Cup, four Liga championships, one Cup Winners' Cup, one Copa del Rey and four Supercopa de España.
Under Cruyff, Barça's Dream Team won four La Liga titles in a row (1991–1994), and beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
The legacy that Cruyff gave Barcelona, however, was about more than just trophies and records, as he gave Barça a winning mentality and footballing identity/ideology that runs through the club till this day.
More information: Best Football Players Ever
More information: Best Football Players Ever
With 11 trophies, Cruyff was Barcelona's most successful manager, but has since been surpassed by his former player Pep Guardiola, who achieved 15.
Later in his reign as Barcelona manager, Cruyff suffered a heart attack and was advised to quit coaching by his doctors. He left in 1996, and never took another top job, but his influence did not end there. It was his first managing job for 13 years.
As well as representing Catalonia on the pitch in 1976, Cruyff also managed the Catalonia national team from 2009 to 2013, leading the team to a victory over Argentina in his debut match.
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| Johan Cruyff, Catalan National Team |
Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed, acceleration, dribbling and vision, possessing an awareness of his teammates' positions as an attack unfolded. Despite his relatively unimpressive stature and strength, Cruyff's tactical brain and reading of the game were exceptional. Football consists of different elements: technique, tactics and stamina, he told.
More information: The Guardian
More information: The Guardian
Cruyff always considered aesthetic and moral aspects of the game; it is not just about winning, but about winning with right style/way. He also always spoke highly of entertaining value of the game. The beautiful game, for him, is about as much the entertainment and joy as the results. In thinking of Cruyff, the victory is truly meaningful when it can fully capture the minds and hearts of competitors and spectators.
In his autobiography, Cruyff explained why he made a set of 14 basic rules, which are displayed at every Cruyff Court in the world.
Cruyff is widely seen as an iconic and revolutionary figure in history of Ajax, Barça, and the Oranje.
Cruyff was also well known for his vocal criticism and uncompromising attitude. A perfectionist, he always had a strong opinion about things and was even loyal to his principles more than any thing else in the football world.
Cruyff once described himself as not religious. Cruyff is also said to have had an attachment to Jewish culture, having grown up in the Amsterdam municipal Betondorp populated by a sizeable Jewish community, and more prevalently because of his lifelong connections with Ajax Amsterdam -a football club with such strong Dutch Jewish influences that some have even dubbed it a Jewish club.
Cruyff's death shocked the football world. Within a week after his death, there were numerous individuals, including players and managers, and organizations, including clubs, paying tribute to him, especially via social media. Thousands of Barcelona fans passed through the memorial to Cruyff, opened inside the Camp Nou stadium, to pay tribute.
More information: Paste Magazine
Every trainer talks about movement, about running a lot.
I say don't run so much. Football is a game you play with your brain. You have to be in the right place at the right moment,
not too early, not too late.
Johan Cruyff
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