Johan Cruyff - World Cup Legend

Born Johannes Hendrikus Cruyff in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1947, Johan Cruyff is arguably the greatest Dutch player to ever grace the world stage.

Growing up in the shadow of the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam, Cruyff’s only ambition in life was to be a professional footballer. To his mother’s dismay, Cruyff left school at the young age of 13 to pursue his dreams. He was soon taken under the wing of coaching legend Rinus Michels by the age of 19 Cruyff was a professional footballer with a first team place on the Ajax side winning is first of nine Dutch League titles.

A technically gifted player, Cruyff’s tackling and marksman skills were in a league of their own, however, it was his ability to time a pass that propelled him to legendary status. Despite being one of the greatest players of all time, Cruyff's international career was relatively short. His debut for the Dutch national side came against Hungary in September 1966 his first of 48 appearances for the “Oranjes” before he called time in October 1977.

Cruyff’s greatest achievement as an international came in the 1974 World Cup finals in Germany. The Dutch side went into the tournament with little expectations, having barely qualified but the pieces of the puzzle fell into place just in time and after the first round, Holland was unanimously appointed the leading favorites for the title by the world press.

It was here that Cruyff excelled, epitomising a style of play now known as ‘total football’ – the ability to wander all over the pitch causing maximum damage despite being a centre forward. His team mates adapted themselves flexibly around his movements regularly switching positions, so that the tactical roles in the team were always filled but not always by the same person. This was not only confusing for the opposition but a revolutionary concept, and it took the world by storm.

Having made it to the final of the 1974 World Cup, the Dutch were on a roll and within minutes, 1-0 up against the home side Germany. Unfortunately they couldn’t hold on to this advantage and the Germans were allowed back into the game, scoring from a penalty kick. Holland lost to Germany and in doing so lost the World Cup consoled only by the fact that Cruyff took the title of Player of the Tournament.

Cruyff announced that he would not play in the next World Cup in Argentina, mainly because he didn't want to be away from his family for so long. That and a series of disagreements with the national federation brought a premature end to his international career.

Though he didn’t experience much success at international level, it was a different story at club level with Cruyff participating in six Dutch Cup wins, nine Dutch League title wins and three European Championship wins. In his mid-30s, Cruyff was amazingly playing some of the best football of his life and was voted Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1983 and 1984.

The best Dutch player of all time hung up his boots once and for all in 1984. His love for football extended beyond the pitch and Cruyff went on to manage both Ajax and Barcelona, proving that his talent was not just limited to kicking a ball. Included in his managerial honours are two Dutch Cups, two European Cup Winners Cups, one Spanish Cup, four Spanish league titles and the European Cup in 1992 with Barcelona.

Johan Cruyff and Barcelona parted company for the last time in 1996 with Cruyff swearing he would never coach again and, as could be expected, he has kept his word and though he never managed his own national side, his name still crops up every time they go looking for a new manager! Johan Cruyff will always be consider the finest of the Dutch Masters.

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