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When we talk about Legends, there is one name which defines the meaning of total football – Hendrik Johannes Cruyff. The 3 times Ballon d’Or winner is the true example of a complete footballer, coach and adviser. What the Dutchman did was just magical and an example to be followed by everyone.
Johan Cruyff was born on April 25, 1947 at Amsterdam in Netherlands. His mother used to work at the club as a sweeper and she was the one who requested the coaches to admit her son at the Ajax youth academy, which he finally joined when he was 10 years old. From 1957 to 1964, he spent his days at the youth academy, which is known to make a complete footballer out of an average player.
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On November 15, 1964, he got his first chance to play for Ajax team, where he scored his first goal. The team didn’t do well and finished in the latter half of the table.
The talent was inbuilt and it was soon seen by people. Johan grabbed the chances he got and impressed everyone with his skills with the ball, his speed and movements. Soon, he became a regular face in the starting XI for Ajax, scoring 25 goals in 23 games he played. Ajax went on to win the league (1965-66).
In 1967-68, Johan became the top scorer in the league with 33 goals and Ajax did a league double. It was followed with another league title next year (1968-69), which made it three consecutive league wins for Ajax, with major contribution from Johan. During this period, he was judged the Best Dutch footballer of the year twice.
After a few injuries, Johan came back strong with a new number 14 on his back, won his side their first European cup by defeating Panathinaikos 2-0 at London on 2nd June 1971, and was later adjudged the European Footballer of the year.
In 1972, when the ‘Total Football’ of Ajax was on a rise, Johan alone ripped up the traditional defensive game of Italian teams, by scoring two goals to take his team to 2 consecutive European victories.
Speculations were rising that Johan may soon leave for either Barcelona or Feyenoord. But in the year 1973, Ajax, with goals from Johan, first won the European Super Cup and later, went on to win the third consecutive European championship, by defeating Juventus 1-0.
In the meantime, he became a key man for the Holland National team. He was excellent with his speed, ball control and movements, but the thing which stood out about him, was his vision. He knew exactly where to place the ball and knew which team-mate will be where. With all the good things, the only thing which worried people, was his outspoken attitude and temperament on the pitch, which even led him to a year ban from the Dutch football team.
In the summer of 1973, FC Barcelona signed Johan Cruyff for a fee of around €2,000,000. It didn’t take him much time to become the hero of fans at Barcelona. The club with Johan, went onto end the dominance of real Madrid in La Liga by winning the the league for the first time since 1960, and also by defeating Real Madrid at their home 5-0.
It was during his Barcelona days when he scored one of his most famous “the Phantom Goal”, or which was later called as “le but impossible de Cruyff” against Atletico Madrid. During his 5 years at Barcelona, he scored 48 goals from 143 games.
In 1974 World Cup, Johan led the Dutch side which was said to be magical and was one of the favourites to win the tournament. In the first 5 games, they scored 12 goals and were breached in the back only once. With an electric 2nd half performance against Brazil, Johan took his Dutch side to the finals of the World Cup.
In the finals against West Germany, Johan grabbed the opportunity by winning a penalty, but the most talented team of the tournament had to bow down to West Germany after losing 2-1.
After Barcelona, Johan moved to several clubs for a year each – starting from Los Angles Aztecs (1979-1980), to Washington Diplomats (1980-81) and Levante for 10 games. He was named the most valuable player during his time at Washington Diplomats.
In 1981, he returned to Ajax as a technical advisor and made his return to the field on 6th December 1981. Ajax were back to winning ways and won two consecutive league titles in 1981-82 and 1982-83 season.
After this season, Ajax decided not to extend the contract of Johan Cruyff, which really angered him and he went on to join Feyenoord, the arch rivals of Ajax. In a year he spent there, Feyenoord won the silverware after years of dominance of Ajax.
It was on May 13, 1984, when he decided to take the call to retire from professional football.
After retiring, Johan was welcomed again at Ajax, but this time as a coach. Even though he didn’t have enough qualification, his 291 goals were more than enough to speak for him. As a coach, he implemented his own ways and his tactics at Ajax, and a young Ajax team became European cup winners in 1987.
After some issues at Ajax, Johan joined his old club FC Barcelona as a coach and brought the Tiki-taka style of play to the team. At Barcelona, he made sure that everyone learns to be a part of Total football. Most of the time was spent to sharpen the passing, the ball movement, control and vision. This led to a revolution in the way football was played at Barcelona.
He made up a team with the youngsters from the youth academy La Masia, which went on to win four consecutive La Liga(1991-1994). In 1992 finals, they beat Sampdoria to lift the European cup, and also won 3 Super Copa and Copa del Rey.
Johan Cruyff became the King of Catalonia and his team called the “Dream team”, was the best in the world. Winning 11 trophies at Camp Nou made him the most successful manager (tied with Josep Guardiola). His last two seasons went without any silverware and hence led to the fallout with the then president Josep Luis Nunez. In 1996, he left Barcelona and vowed to never coach again.
His plans to return to Ajax crashed when he said in March 2008, that there is a mismatch of opinion with the then manager of Ajax team, Marco van Basten. In November 2009, Johan was named as the coach of Catalonia national team.
After spending a year at Ajax as a member of supervisory board in 2011, he is now working as an adviser to the Mexican outfit Club Deportivo Guadalajara.
- World Club Championship (1972)
- European Cup (1971, 72, 73)
- Dutch Championship(Eredivise)(1966, 67, 68, 70,72, 73, 82, 84)
- KNVB Cup (1967, 70, 71, 72, 83)
- La Liga (1974)
- Copa del Rey (1978)
- KNVB Cup (1986, 87)
- UEFA Cup winners cup (1987, 89)
- Copa del Rey (1991)
- La Liga (1991, 92, 93, 94)
- Spanish Super Cup (1991, 92, 94)
- European cup (1992)
- European Super cup (1992)
- 5 times Dutch footballer of the year.
- 3 times European footballer of the year.
- 33 goals from 48 games for Netherlands.
- 291 goals from 520 games for various clubs.
- Golden player of Netherland.
- 2 times Don Balon award for Best foreign player in La Liga.
- 2 times Don balon award for best coach.
- 2 times Onze d’Or award for best coach.
- 1 time World Soccer awards manager of the year
- European player of the century XX by IFFHS.
DISCLAIMER: The article was first published on thefootballasylum.com
