That move, by the way, was his invention. “Johan Cruyff was not scared of anything,” Txiki Begiristain recalls. By OlegKuznetsov, March 18, 2013 in General Football & Sport. Was he the best ever?Leave a like if you remember any of these iconic momentsThanks to all of you and stay safeSUBSCRIBE IF YOU LOVE FOOTBALL So, comparing him to the other greats like Pele and Diego Maradona has to be done very carefully. The way that Dutch team played was nothing like the soccer I knew. Johan Cruyff plays a game of tennis on the annual Open Day of the Johan Cruyff Foundation. Cruyff was well known for … Rest in peace, Johan. Rehman, the country’s ‘father of human rights’, Cuban Americans make plea to Biden administration for help on immigration limbo, Peru polarized by two social conservatives in presidential runoff, A toddler's newsletter inspires joy for isolated seniors in Toronto. On 15th November 1964, Cruyff was debuted for the Ajax senior team. Johan Cruyff was a sensational player, he was one of a kind and one of the very best in the history of the game. Read about Just How GOOD was Johan Cruyff? I was 9 when I first saw Cruyff play. The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. He himself was supposedly a striker, but if the space was away from goal, near the middle of the pitch, he’d go there and get the ball. But Total Football would never have become a revolutionary movement without the perfect player to implement it and inspire his teammates to do the same. La Masia is also the place that forged Argentina’s Lionel Messi into arguably the best soccer player ever. At least to begin with, before he took them beyond fear. I also think Busquets is going to become a good coach." When Johan Cruyff took over in 1988, he changed the course of Barça’s history. Johan Cruyff’s influence is still felt but the decline of Dutch clubs and the national team has led to conflict about how the future should be shaped, Ruud Gullit tells Donald McRae I was in Italy watching the games of the 1974 World Cup on a small black-and-white TV. "I had to be critical, both of the group and of individual players. Johan Cruyff Wiki 2021, Height, Age, Net Worth 2021, Family - Find facts and details about Johan Cruyff on wikiFame.org He was a professional football player and also a coach. “In a way, I’m probably immortal” Johan Cruyff . - Johan Cruyff, Chapter 12. And after his career was over, he coached there too. Instead of waiting for the ball to come to him in a pre-determined area of the field, Cruyff moved to wherever the other players were not. Cruyff made his place in the regular XI for the Ajax team since from 1966. Download OneFootball: http://tinyurl.com/qkgwa68Icon doesn't even begin to describe Johan Cruyff. But just how GOOD was he really? Johan Cruyff was out of this world. Johan Cruyff Academy, ... Cruyff appeared to be in good spirits and it is believed this was the last time he was seen in public. Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels utilised the Total Football system during the 1960s and 1970s to form a strong Ajax and Holland team, resulting in a new era of Dutch and European football. Heck, I’ve been trying to master it myself for decades with only modest success. Color wasn’t yet a thing on Italian television. He died Thursday at the age of 68, after a battle with cancer. How good was Johan Cruyff? Just how GOOD was Johan Cruyff Actually? That academy, La Masia, is still around. And I had the pleasure of playing in the same team as Jim Baxter. His principles were adopted from the Dutch style of play, Total Football, under which he himself had thrived. Johan Cruyff was an innovator and changed the game of football forever. Beginning on a new journey to football. He was also an exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels. Others on the Dutch team were good at some of those things as well. Cruyff attended Ajax Youth Academy on his tenth birthday; Cruyff’s home was five minutes away from the Ajax Stadium; one day Cruyff and his friends were playing football and at that time Ajax Football Club’s Youth Coach Van der Vin noticed Cruyff play and he admitted Cruyff in Ajax Youth Academy without any formal trial. The traditional way to play soccer up to that point was pretty straightforward: A goal keeper, a line of four defenders, a line of four midfielders and a final line of two forwards. When he was at his fittest he was as good a midfield player as there has ever been. 45. But only Cruyff was the whole package. COMMENT BELOW WHAT PLAYER I SHOULD DO NEXT.Just how GOOD was Johan Cruyff Actually?New episode of a documentary series where I plan to present all the greatest players of all time and then give them a score so a ranking of the best players can be created. The footballing prosperity in Holland mirrored the cultural changes and resurrection that occurred after the destruction of Amsterdam during World War II.… He died Thursday at the age of 68, after a battle with cancer. So while all of his teammates wore orange shirts with the three Adidas stripes down their sleeves, Cruyff demanded special shirts made just for him, with only two stripes. Just how GOOD was Johan Cruyff Actually? The lessons the Cruyff turn taught us also proved valuable with regards to knowing the difference of ‘selling the move’ and ‘going through the motions’; that was Cruyff. Cruyff had a contract with another supplier. “Playing football is very simple,” he once said. In the first leg, Barcelona achieved a good result after a 2–2 draw with goals from Óscar and Hagi. Johan Cruyff, Dutch football (soccer) forward renowned for his imaginative playmaking. It was also his idea that Barcelona develop a youth academy to develop future talent. But he knew that, to win, it was the how that mattered. Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff was one of the best ever in the sport, and a pleasure to watch on the field. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your … As a player, he won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. As a coach, had his career been longer, he would easily be contesting to be one of the best coaches ever. Hendrik Johannes "Johan" Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and coach. To learn more, review our Cookie Policy. And that the academy’s curriculum incorporate the best of Total Football. He was a master dribbler, had a vision for the perfect pass and could score goals at will. He would push and push you and then he would protect you. We couldn’t have done it without your support. “But playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.”. During his playtime, he won the Ballon d’Or three times. Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff was one of the best ever in the sport, and a pleasure to watch on the field. Want to see what's on deck? Johan Cruyff has been listed as a level-4 vital article in People. Barcelona were able to score just one goal in the final minutes, but it was not enough to force the extra time. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies and Privacy Policy. The story you just read is freely available and accessible to everyone because readers like you support The World financially. I’m not sure anyone else has ever gotten away with that. He brought with him a philosophy that you can still see every time Barcelona’s superstars take to the field. #RIPJohanCruyff pic.twitter.com/sRpI9Sg337. But what Cruyff and the Dutch invented in the 1970s blew all that out of the water. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in football history. We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. A fresh call for ‘pingpong diplomacy’ on the 50th anniversary of the first US-China games, A trip to a British pub may require a COVID-19 passport, Iron Dames: The all-female team racing to bring change to motor sports, ‘Married to the mountains’: Arab women mountaineers set records despite social restrictions, pandemic, Pakistan mourns I.A. His pedigree as a player, which includes three consecutive European Cup wins with the great Ajax team of the 1970s and a World Cup final with the Netherlands in 1974, is enough to guarantee this. He was super skilled with the ball at his feet, as demonstrated here: I'm still trying to master this move. by Raymar Football and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Cruyff's son is also a footballer following path trail of his father. Johan Cruyff is regarded as the most prodigious football player of every time. It is a move designed to enable a forward to escape the attentions of a tight marking defender and involves a sudden change of direction, wrong-footing an opponent. Photograph: Niels den Haan/The Guardian Cruyff has said: “Van Gaal has a good … The Dutchman’s players, on the other hand, were. Zidane was the only player with such almost artistic poise that even came close. … The objective was to pass the ball forward from line to line so the forwards (also called strikers) could kick it into the goal. Cruyff sco… A look at the statistics that tell the story of the remarkable football career of Netherlands legend Johan Cruyff - one of the greatest players in the game's history. Johan Cruyff, the sporting legend whose "total football" style revolutionised Barcelona and the Dutch national side, and who died on March 24, aged 68, had a close relationship with Judaism. This was how Johan Cruyff worked. Every morning, the editorial team at public radio’s international news show The World meets to plan what they'll cover that day. If you can improve it, please do. Cruyff played there after leaving the Netherlands. October 4, 2020. However, the Germans managed to pull a surprise at the Camp Nou with two goals. And we can thank Johan Cruyff for that, too. He wasn’t easy to work with, though. Their system became known as Total Football, and I would describe it as organized chaos. He won numerous honors, including European Footballer of the Year (1971, 1973, and 1974) and the Golden Ball (Most Valuable Player) award for the 1974 World Cup. One of football’s redeeming qualities, if not the most redeeming quality, is that the game’s greats are timeless. A news item involving Johan Cruyff was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In the news section on 24 March 2016. I wish Id seen more of his career, but this is really top notch skill with so much grace, vision and balance. Everywhere he went, there were stories about Cruyff butting heads with coaches and the powers that be. “There’s only one ball,” goes another famous quote of his, “so you need to have it.”. Cruyff was a Catalan nationalism supporter and was always dedicated in serving the Catalonia and this also made him hero for Barcelona supporters. The principle of total football is that each player is capable of playing any role on the field. As a player, he was among the top three or four best players ever. Sign up for our daily newsletter TOP OF THE WORLD and get the big stories we’re tracking delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. He set records with Ajax, Barcelona, gave us beauty, gave us technique, gave us intelligence, he was a leader as a coach. Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON was a Dutch professional football player and coach. Johan Cruyff, champion and genius, was the purest expression of a how as a way to achieving the what. And it boasts several generations now of amazing players, many of whom have played a role in bringing a cascade of trophies to Barcelona and Spain. He was demanding a lot, but when you got there, and you were in his team, he was an incredible protector. Johan Cruyff: Football's Greatest Maestro | Cruyff The Player | What Made Him Special | - YouTube. Johan Cruyff was a married man and had almost 5 decades of happy married life. Slender, swift and lithe, the Dutch master saw football fundamentally as a creative activity, and used his awe-inspiring talent to change the game for good. Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands during a World Cup qualifier match between the Netherlands and Belgium on October 26, 1977 at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdams. The main characteristics are that any player can move into another’s position, confusing opponents, and that any player could defend, create or score goals. The end of Johan Cruyff’s era as a coach Profile Johan Cruyff is without question one of the most influential figures in the history of football. He gave the club an identity that the fans were proud of. PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402. In this episode we take on Johan Cruyff, this legend rose to fame in a time with player like Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller etc, but how does he stack up among the greatest of all time.Johan Cruyff was a master tactician, everyone knows that, but how good was he actually? - YouTube. During the 1974 World Cup, Cruyff was the only player on the Dutch team who refused to wear the official team jersey, supplied by the German brand Adidas. But even without color, what I saw on that small screen was soccer being revolutionized. What a couple minutes of total football might look like. It’s now called the Cruyff turn, and kids today still struggle to learn it. The Cruyff turn is a manoeuvre made famous by the captain of the Dutch national side in the 1974 World Cup finals Johan Cruyff. Thank you all for helping us reach our goal of 1,000 donors. Of course, Cruyff also knew what to do with the ball once he got it. Often called a philosopher, a romantic, a deep thinker…the Dutchman actually was nothing less than a winner. Cruyff himself said: “In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender.”. The couple had three children together. He wanted to win. This article has been rated as B-Class. But Cruyff also pioneered something that is central to Total Football: movement into space. Cruyff was SO ahead of his time. Johan Cruyff Johan Cruyff was a pioneering coach who believed in playing a fluid and attacking style of play, with all players responsible for attacking and defending. As far as Cruyff’s legacy goes, look no further than FC Barcelona, universally considered one of the best soccer clubs (if not THE best) on the planet. And that perfect player was Cruyff. Your donation directly supported the critical reporting you rely on, the consistent reporting you believe in, and the deep reporting you want to ensure survives. 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