The greatest footballers of all time - No. 5

Continuing with our series on the greatest footballers of all time, here’s No. 5 on our list.

No. 5 – Johan Cruyff

I chance upon this video. It is a World Cup final – Holland against Germany. The camera is fixed at the centre circle. There are these two players in orange. One wears a 14. The other wears a 3. Something does not seem right. I have a keen interest in jersey numbers and I know that 3 is traditionally a left back. 14? Well, I could live with that. A 3? Fascinating.

The camera pans out. The 14 kicks the ball slightly forward. There is such nonchalance that it almost feels as if there was no interest in it. The 3 kicks the ball lazily back. This is a World Cup final, for God’s sake, and these chaps are loitering about as if it is a kick-about in the park. I am piqued.

I watch. The ball travels backwards. Midfielder to left-back. Left-back to centre-half. Centre-half to the other centre-half. Centre-half to right-back. Right-back back to the centre-half. A figure approaches from the front. Centre-half back to the other centre-half. All the Germans are now in their own half. All but 4 Dutchmen are in the German half. A goal-keeper, the two centre-halves and a certain number 14.

One centre-half passes it to the other. The other takes a touch. He is closed down upon very quickly. Not by a German. By 14. 14 takes it into the German half. There is activity. Finally! No wait. Too early. The ball is travelling backwards. Again. I’m getting flustered watching this. I can’t imagine how the Germans must have felt.

14 gets the ball at the centre circle; he is the last man – every other Dutchman with the exception of the ‘keeper is ahead of him. Suddenly, there is a blur, an instant acceleration – perfect balance and supreme control. 14 is in the German penalty area. He is tripped. Penalty. Neeskens slots the ball home. One-nil. Germany has not touched the ball. Holland has scored. The Germans are flabbergasted. And I am in love. I have just watched poetry in motion. I have just witnessed totaalvoetbal; I have just seen the brilliance of Johan Cruyff.

The Dutch are artists. They look at football in a way that no other nation does. The crux of the Dutch philosophy, one that endears them to legions around the world, is something that those legions will not comprehend – space.

Holland, as a nation, has always fought against the sea. Master engineers, they have fought the elements to reclaim land from the sea and expand their country. Space, as a concept, is deeply ingrained in the Dutch philosophy. It is there in almost everything they do. Football is no exception.

Most people know Cruyff as the man who brought totaalvoetbal or total football to the game. In truth, the concept was developed by the then Ajax coach, Rinus Michels. While Michels was the brain behind the concept, it’s execution on the pitch was spearheaded by Cruyff, along with other greats like Neeskens.

A product of the famed Ajax academy, Cruyff went on to play for Ajax, Barcelona and Feyenoord amongst spells in the United States and Levante.

Cruyff was a complex character. Growing up in the hippie culture, Cruyff was as much about non-conformance as he was about football. He was a rebel; one who would not do anything if he felt it went against his philosophy. One of the most famous incidents involving Cruyff was when he had Adidas design a separate national team jersey for him because he was sponsored by Nike and refused to wear the three stripes of Adidas. He subsequently went on to play the entire tournament with two stripes.

But that was only his personal side; on the pitch, it was all about vision. It was about doing things right. It was all about the simple plan being executed to perfection. It was about movement; it was about creativity; it was about graft; it was about closing down; it was about space, and making the most of it.

But Cruyff was not just about the mad skills. He backed all of his talent up with a long line of trophies at each of the clubs that he appeared for. In 1972, he helped Ajax win as many as five titles – the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup, the European Cup (now known as the Champions League), the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. Cruyff scored 368 goals out of 662 appearances in his club career, and a further 33 goals out of 48 appearances on the international stage. The man is a statistician’s delight, having won just about every trophy worth winning (except for the hallowed World Cup, of course).

Cruyff envisioned football to be something that was as cerebral as it was about physics. In the process, he married the two concepts to forge a glittering career both as a player and a manager. Most of you who read this will probably have not been alive when Cruyff was at his pomp. Most of us are limited to glimpses of the man from videos and documentaries. Perhaps the closest that we have come to seeing the essence of Cruyff is in the current Barcelona team managed by one of Cruyff’s ace students.

Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “the Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird, or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “the Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “the Prestige”.”

– Christopher Nolan, The Prestige

Cruyff pledged to make the world see something different. He looks for the pass. The defender looks up to see who he is aiming for. Ah! But no; Cruyff is no mortal. He is a magician. He drags the ball behind his planted foot with the inside of his other foot and turns through 180 degrees, accelerating away from the defender. He makes the pass disappear. The Cruyff turn. The defender is bemused. But making the pass disappear is not enough. It must be brought back.

The acceleration; the balance; the talent; the vision; the ability; the killer pass; the prestige. Johan Cruyff’s prestige. Totaalvoetbal.

Here is a highlights clip of Cruyff’s wizardry at its mesmerizing best. Take a look!

These are the other players who have made it so far:

No. 20 – David Beckham; No. 19 – Oliver Kahn; No. 18 – Jurgen Klinsmann; No. 17 – Luis Figo; No. 16 – Romario; No. 15 – Marco van Basten; No. 14 – Eusebio; No. 13 – Lionel Messi; No. 12 – Zico; No. 11 – Paolo Maldini; No. 10 – Michel Platini; No. 9 – Puskas; No. 8 - Lothar Matthäus; No. 7 – Franz Beckenbauer; No. 6 – Alfredo Di Stefano

Read the detailed write-ups on all the players in this list here:

The greatest footballers of all time