Johan Cruyff

Personal information
Full name	Hendrik Johannes Cruijff
Date of birth	25 April 1947 (1947-04-25) (age 62)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder, Second striker
Youth career
1959–1964	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps (Gls)†
1964–1973	Ajax	240 (190)
1973–1978	Barcelona	143 0(48)
1979–1980	Los Angeles Aztecs	027 0(16)
1980–1981	Washington Diplomats	032 0(12)
1981	Levante	010 00(2)
1981–1983	Ajax	036 0(14)
1983–1984	Feyenoord	033 0(11)
Total		521 (293)
National team
1966–1977	Netherlands	048 0(33)
Teams managed
1985–1988	Ajax
1988–1996	Barcelona
2009–	Catalonia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff ( pronunciation (help·info); born 25 April 1947), commonly known as Johan Cruyff, is a former Dutch footballer and manager. He was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1971, 1973, 1974)^[1] which is a record jointly held with Michel Platini, and Marco van Basten. Cruyff was the most famous exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football,^[1] explored by Rinus Michels and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. (Typically dubbed as one of the three football "Legends" along with Diego Maradona and Pele).
After his retirement from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later Barcelona; he remains an influential advisor to both clubs. His son, Jordi, also went on to play football professionally.
In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll.^[2] He came third in a vote organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect their Football Player of the Century.^[3]
On 2 November 2009 Cruyff was named as the head coach of the Catalonia national football team^[4] in place of Pere Gratacòs. This is his first coaching job in the last thirteen years.^[5]

Style of play

Through his career, Cruyff became synonymous with the playing style of "Total Football".^[1] It is a system where a player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus allowing the team to retain their intended organizational structure. In this fluid system no footballer is fixed in their intended outfield role; anyone can be successively an attacker, a midfielder and a defender. The style was honed by Ajax coach Rinus Michels around the time Cruyff came to prominence.
Strictly speaking, Cruyff played centre forward in this system. But he would drop deep to confuse his markers or suddenly move to the wing with devastating effect. No one had seen a centre forward like that before. Due to the way Cruyff played his game he is still referred to as "the total footballer."^[6]
Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed and acceleration, but his greatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-mates' positions as an attack unfolded. The sports writer David Miller believed Cruyff superior to any previous player in his ability to extract the most from others. He dubbed him "Pythagoras in boots" for the complexity and precision of his angled passes and wrote: "Few have been able to exact, both physically and mentally, such mesmeric control on a match from one penalty area to another."^[7]
Cruyff also perfected a move now known as the "Cruyff Turn." To do this move, Cruyff would look to pass or cross the ball. However, instead of kicking it, he would drag the ball behind his planted foot with the inside of his other foot and turn through 180 degrees and accelerate away outside a defender.

Club career

Cruyff played for Ajax, Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, and Feyenoord during his career.

Ajax

Cruyff joined Ajax youth system on his 10th birthday. He made his first team debut on 15 November 1964 in the Eredivisie, against Groningen, scoring the only goal for Ajax in a 3–1 defeat. That year Ajax finished in their lowest position since the establishment of professional football, 13th.^[8] Cruyff really started to make an impression in the 1965–66 season. Cruyff established himself as a regular first team player after scoring two goals against Door Wilskracht Sterk in the Olympic stadion on 24 October 1965 (in a 2–0 victory). In the seven games that winter he scored eight times and in March 1966 he scored the first three goals in a league game against Telstar (6–2 win). Four days later, in a cup game against BV Veendam (7–0 win), he scored four goals. In total that season, Cruyff scored 25 goals in 23 games, and Ajax won the league championship.
In the 1966-1967 season, Ajax again won the league championship, but 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 would repeat in 1969. On 28 May 1969, Cruyff played in his first European Cup final against AC Milan, but the Italian team ended up winning 4-1.
In the 1969–70 season, Cruyff won his second league and cup "double," but at the beginning of the 1970-1971 season, Cruyff suffered a long-term groin injury. He made his comeback on 30 October 1970 against PSV. In this game, he did not wear his usual number 9, which was in use by Gerrie Mühren, but instead used number 14. Ajax won the game 1–0. Although it was very uncommon in those days for the starters of a game not to play with numbers 1 to 11, from that moment onwards, Cruyff's number was 14, even using the number with the Dutch national team.^[9] There has even been a documentary on Cruyff titled Nummer 14 Johan Cruyff^[10] and in his native Holland there is a magazine by Voetbal International titled "Nummer 14".^[11]
In a league game against AZ '67 on 29 November 1970, Cruyff scored no less than six goals in an 8–1 victory. After winning a replayed KNVB Cup final against Sparta Rotterdam by a score of 2–1, Ajax won in Europe for the first time. On 2 June 1971, in London, Ajax won the European Cup by defeating Panathinaikos 2–0. In spite of speculation that Cruyff would move to another club (Feyenoord and Barcelona were interested) on 12 July 1971, he signed a seven-year contract at Ajax. At the end of the season, he became not only the Dutch, but also the European Footballer of the Year for 1971.
1972 was a particular successful year for Ajax and Cruyff. Ajax won a second European Cup, beating Internazionale 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. Soccer: The Ultimate Encyclopaedia says: "Single-handed, Cruyff not only pulled Internazionale of Italy apart in the 1972 European Cup Final, but scored both goals in Ajax's 2–0 win." Cruyff also scored in the 3–2 victory over ADO Den Haag in the KNVB Cup final. In the league, Cruyff was the top scorer with 25 goals as Ajax became champions. In the autumn, Ajax won the Intercontinental Cup, beating Argentina's Independiente (1–1 and 3–0) and then in January 1973, they won the European Super Cup by beating Rangers 3–1 away and 3–2 in Amsterdam. Curiously, Cruyff's only own goal came on 20 August 1972 against FC Amsterdam. A week later, against Go Ahead Eagles (6–0), Cruyff scored four times for Ajax. The 1972–73 season was concluded with the another league championship victory and a third successive Europe Cup (Ajax — Juventus 1–0).
In the summer of 1973, Cruyff was sold to Barcelona for 6 million guilder (approx. US$ 2 million, circa 1973). On 19 August 1973, he played his last match for Ajax (Ajax — FC Amsterdam 6–1), the 2nd match of the 1973–74 season.

Barcelona

At Barcelona, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name Jordi for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5–0 at their home of Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year.
During his time at Barcelona, Cruyff scored one of his most famous goals, The 'Phantom' Goal.^[12] In a game against Atlético de 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 Madrid goal with his right heel (the ball was at about neck height and had already traveled wide of the far post). The goal was featured in the documentary En un momento dado, in which fans of Cruyff attempted to recreate that moment. The goal has been dubbed Le but impossible de Cruyff (Cruyff's impossible goal).^{[citation needed]}
Note that Cruyff played two games with Paris Saint-Germain in 1975 during the Paris tournament. On loan from Barcelona to 10,000,000 francs, it was unfortunately booed by the Parc des Princes in its output when the defeat of the french club against Valencia. The Dutch player had only agreed because he was a fan of designer Daniel Hechter, who was then president of PSG. [1]

United States

At the age of 32, he signed a lucrative deal with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He had previously been rumored to be joining the New York Cosmos but the deal did not materialize. However, he did play exhibition games for the Cosmos. He stayed at the Aztecs for only one season, but was voted NASL Player of the Year in that time. The following season he moved to play for the Washington Diplomats; he played the whole 1980 campaign for Washington, leaving soon after the start of the 1981 season.

Back in the Netherlands

In January 1981, manager Jock Wallace of English club Leicester City made an audacious attempt to sign Cryuff. Despite negotiations lasting three weeks, in which Cryuff expressed his desire to play for the club, a deal could not be reached as he was still contracted to UD Levante.^[13]
After his spell in the USA and a short-lived stay at UD Levante in Spain, Cruyff returned to play in his homeland, rejoining Ajax on 30 November 1980 as "technical advisor" of trainer Leo Beenhakker, Ajax being 8th in the ranking of the table of the Dutch League then after 13 games. Ajax would finish 2nd in 1980–81 in June 1981 after 34 games. In January 1981, Cruyff played three friendly matches for DS'79 from Dordrecht. In March 1981, Cruyff started to play for Levante, a Spanish 2nd Division club. The club did not keep the financial agreements, however. In May 1981, Cruyff played as a guest player for AC Milan, in a tournament, but was injured. As a result, he missed almost all of the entire American soccer season thereafter. In December 1981, Cruyff signed a new contract as player for Ajax. His already since November 1980 expected return was on December 6, 1981 against Haarlem (4–1 home win), Cruyff scored the first goal. In the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons, Ajax, along with Cruyff, became league champions. In the 1982–83 season, Ajax also won the Dutch Cup (KNVB-Beker). One notable incident from this era was a famous goal he scored against Helmond Sport in 1982 while playing for Ajax. Cruyff scored a penalty the same way Rik Coppens had already done it 25 years earlier.^[14][15][16] He put the ball down as for a routine penalty kick, but instead of shooting at goal, Cruyff nudged the ball sideways to his Ajax teammate Jesper Olsen who in return passed it back to Cruyff who tapped the ball into the empty net, as Otto Versfeld, the bemused Helmond goalkeeper, looked on. 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.^[17] 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 cup double.

International career

As a Dutch international, Cruyff, played 48 matches, scoring 33 goals. In his second Dutch national team match, a friendly against Czechoslovakia, Cruyff was the first Dutch international to receive a red card. He received a one-year suspension from the Dutch KNVB.
Accusations of Cruyff's "aloofness" were not rebuffed by his habit of wearing a shirt with only two black stripes along the sleeves, as opposed to Adidas' usual design feature of three, worn by all the other Dutch players. Cruyff, however, had a separate sponsorship deal with Puma.
Cruyff led the Netherlands to a runners-up medal in the 1974 FIFA World Cup and was named the player of the tournament. Thanks to his team's mastery of Total Football, they coasted all the way to the final, knocking out Argentina (4–0), East Germany (2–0), and Brazil (2–0) along the way. Cruyff himself scored twice against Argentina in one of his team's most dominating performances, then he scored the second goal against Brazil to knock out the defending champions. The Netherlands faced hosts West Germany in the final. Cruyff kicked off and the ball was passed around the Oranje team 13 times before returning to Cruyff, who then went on a rush that eluded Berti Vogts and ended when he was fouled by Uli Hoeneß inside the box. Teammate Johan Neeskens scored from the spot kick to give the Netherlands a 1–0 lead, and the Germans had not even touched the ball. Only during the latter half of the final was his playmaking influence stifled by the effective marking of Berti Vogts, while Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeneß, and Wolfgang Overath dominated the midfield, enabling West Germany to win 2–1.^[18] Cruyff received a yellow card during half time for talking to the referee.
Cruyff retired from international football in October 1977, having helped the national team qualify for the upcoming World Cup. Without him, the Netherlands finished runners-up in the World Cup again. Initially the reason given for missing the 1978 FIFA World Cup were political reasons given a military dictatorship was in power in Argentina at that time. In 2008, however, Cruyff stated to the journalist Antoni Bassas in Catalunya Ràdio, that he and his family were involved in a kidnap attempt in Barcelona a year before the tournament, and that this had caused his retirement. "To play a World Cup you have to be 200%, there are moments when there are other values in life."^[19]

Managerial career

Ajax

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 (final: Ajax — Lokomotiv Leipzig 1–0; goal by Marco van Basten). In May and June 1985, Cruyff returned to Ajax again. In the 1985–86 season, the league title was lost to PSV, despite Ajax having a goal difference of +85 (120 goals for, 35 goals against). In the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons, Ajax won the Dutch Cup (KNVB-Beker).
It was during this period as manager that Cruyff was able to implement his favoured team formation—three mobile centre halves plus one covering space, almost a holding midfielder rather than sweeper (from Boeve, Blind, Silooy, Spelbos), two controlling midfielders (from Winter, Wouters, Mühren, Witschge) with responsibilities to feed the attack-minded players, one shadow striker (Bosman, Scholten), two touchline-hugging wingers (from Bergkamp, van't Schip, De Wit, Dick) and one all-round centre forward (Van Basten). So successful was this system that Ajax won the Champions League in 1995 playing Cruyff's system. Terry Venables as England manager was an advocate of this system, based on free-flowing football and intelligent and incisive individuals carrying out seemingly simple functions, in the Euro 1996 semi-final versus Germany, England used this system effectively.^{[citation needed]}

Barcelona

In 1988, Cruyff returned to Barcelona as manager. At Barcelona Cruyff brought in players such as Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Begiristain, Goikoetxea, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário, Gheorghe Hagi, and Hristo Stoichkov. Under Cruyff, Barcelona won La Liga four times between 1991 and 1994, and beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España.
Cruyff used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day prior to undergoing double heart bypass surgery in 1991 while he was the coach of Barcelona, after which he gave up smoking. He also led the anti-smoking campaign developed by the Health Department of the Catalan autonomous government. And Cruyff juggled a cigarette pack 16 times in an anti-tobacco video sponsored by the Catalan Department of Health.^[20][21][22]
With 11 trophies, Cruyff has been Barcelona's most successful manager to date as he had more trophies to show for his tenure, as well as being the club's longest serving manager. However, in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies, and fell out with chairman Josep Lluís Núñez; this resulted in his departure from the club, and he vowed never to coach again.
While at Barcelona, he was in negotiations with the KNVB to manage the national team for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals, but talks broke off at the last minute.^[23]
His open support helped candidate Joan Laporta to victory in Barcelona's latest presidential elections. He continues to be an adviser for him, although he holds no official post at Barcelona.
Known as a player's coach with deep convictions with regard to his philosophy of the game, he is considered a visionary and his presence at Barcelona was said to have changed many things and his was the beginning of what is known as the "Dutch influence" at Barcelona.

Proposed return to Ajax

On 20 February 2008, in the wake of a major research on the ten-year-mismanagement, it was announced that Johan Cruyff would be the new technical director at his boyhood club Ajax—this would be his fourth stint at the Amsterdam club.^[24] However, Cruyff announced in March that he is pulling out of his planned return to Ajax because of "professional difference of opinion" between him and Ajax's new manager, Marco van Basten. Van Basten said that Cruyff's plans were "going too fast", because he was "not so dissatisfied with how things are going now".^[25]

Catalonia

On 2 November 2009 was named as the Head Coach of the Catalonia national football team^[26] in place of Pere Gratacòs. It is his first coaching job in thirteen years^[27].

Honours

As player

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1983
• KNVB Cup: 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1983
• European Cup: 1971, 1972, 1973
• Intercontinental Cup: 1972
• UEFA Super Cup: 1972, 1973
• Intertoto Cup: 1968

Barcelona

• La Liga: 1974
• Copa del Rey: 1978

Feyenoord

• Eredivisie: 1984
• KNVB Cup: 1984
• European Player of the Century XX IFFHS
• Golden Player of the Netherlands

As manager

Ajax

• KNVB Cup: 1986, 1987
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1987

Barcelona

• Copa del Rey: 1990
• La Liga: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
• Spanish Supercup: 1991, 1992, 1994
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1989
• European Cup: 1992
• UEFA Super Cup: 1992

Individual

• European Footballer of the Year (3): 1971, 1973, 1974
• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1974
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1974
• Don Balón Award for Foreign Player of the Year in La Liga (2): 1977, 1978
• Dutch Golden Shoe: 1984
• World Soccer Awards Manager of the Year: 1987
• Don Balón Award for Coach of the Year in La Liga (2): 1991, 1992
• Onze d'Or for Coach of the Year (2): 1992, 1994

Statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
1964-65	Ajax	Eredivisie	10	4	0	0	0	0	10	4
1965-66			19	16	4	9	0	0	23	25
1966-67			30	33	5	5	6	3	41	41
1967-68			33	25	5	6	3	2	41	33
1968-69			29	24	3	3	10	6	42	33
1969-70			33	23	5	6	8	4	46	33
1970-71			25	21	6	5	6	1	37	27
1971-72			32	25	4	3	9	5	45	33
1972-73			26	16	0	0	6	3	32	19
1973-74			2	3	0	0	0	0	2	3
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Europe		Total
1973-74	Barcelona	La Liga	26	16	0	0	0	0	26	16
1974-75			30	7	0	0	8	0	38	7
1975-76			29	6	0	0	9	2	38	8
1976-77			30	14	0	0	7	5	37	19
1977-78			28	5	7	1	10	5	45	11
USA			League		Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup		North America		Total
1979	Los Angeles Aztecs	NASL	27	16	-		-		27	16
1980	Washington Diplomats	NASL	27	10	-		-		27	10
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Europe		Total
1980-81	Levante	Segunda División	10	2	0	0	0	0	10	2
USA			League		Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup		North America		Total
1981	Washington Diplomats	NASL	5	2	-		-		5	2
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
1981-82	Ajax	Eredivisie	15	7	1	0	0	0	16	7
1982-83			21	7	7	2	2	0	30	9
1983-84	Feyenoord	Eredivisie	33	11	7	1	4	1	44	13
Total	Netherlands		308	215	48	40	54	25	410	280
	Spain		153	50	7	1	34	12	184	63
	USA		59	28	-		-		59	28
Career Total			520	293	55	41	88	37	663	371

Further honours

• In 1996, the Dutch Supercup was named Johan Cruijff-schaal.

• In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of the Netherlands by the KNVB as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.^[28]

• On 22 May 2006, Cruyff was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to football by Laureus in their annual World Sports Awards.^[29]

• Cruyff received a lifetime achievement award from the KNVB in August 2006.^[30][31]

• In 2006, Cruyff played in Dennis Bergkamp's Testimonial as a second-half substitute with Ajax.

• On 18 April 2007, Ajax decided to retire the number 14 shirt in honour of Johan Cruyff and in celebration of his birthday.^[32]

Outside football

Statements

In the Netherlands, and to some extent Spain, Cruyff is famous for his one-liners that usually hover between brilliant insight and simple logic. They are famous for their Amsterdam dialect and incorrect grammar. In Spain, his most famous statement is "En un momento dado." The quote has been used for the title of a documentary about Cruyff’s life: Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado. In the Netherlands, his most famous one-liner is "Ieder nadeel heb z'n voordeel" ("Every disadvantage has its advantage") and his way of expressing himself has been dubbed "Cruijffiaans."
Some of his most famous statements are:

• "Voetbal is een spel van fouten. Wie de minste fouten maakt wint. (Football is a game of mistakes. The ones who makes the least mistakes win.)"
• "Je gaat het pas zien als je het door hebt. (You won’t see it until you've got it.)"
• "Ieder nadeel heb z’n voordeel. (Every disadvantage has its advantage)"
• "Als je een speler ziet sprinten, is hij te laat vertrokken. (When you see a player sprinting, he left too late.)"
• "Je moet schieten anders kan je niet scoren. (You’ve got to shoot or you can’t score.)"
• "Italianen kennen niet van je winnen, maar je ken wel van ze verliezen. (Italians can’t defeat you but you can lose to them.)"
• "Voetbal is simpel, maar het moeilijkste wat er is, is simpel voetballen. (Football is simple, but the hardest thing there is, is to play simple football.)"
• "Je moet altijd zorgen dat je één doelpunt meer scoort als de tegenstander. (You always have to make sure that you score one goal more than your opponent.)"
• "Je ken beter ten onder gaan met je eigen visie als met de visie van een ander. (It’s better to lose with your own vision than with someone else’s.)"
• "Als wij de bal hebben, kennen zij niet scoren. (If we have the ball, they can’t score.)"
• "Als ik iets eerder begin te lopen, dan lijk ik sneller. (If I start running a little earlier, I’ll seem faster.)"
• "Als ik zou willen dat je het begreep, zou ik het wel beter uitleggen. (If I wanted you to understand, I would explain it better.)"
• "Als ik thuiskom van een televisie-analyse, vraagt mijn vrouw: Wat heb je gezegd? Dan zeg ik: Al sla je me dood. (When I come home after a television-analyse, my wife asks: What did you say? Then I answer: I have no idea.)"
• "Zonder de bal kun je niet winnen. (Without the ball you can't win)"

Trivia

In November 2003, Cruyff invoked legal proceedings against the publisher Tirion Uitgevers, over its photo book Johan Cruyff de Ajacied, which used photographs by Guus de Jong. Cruyff was working on another book, also using De Jong's photographs, and claimed unsuccessfully that Tirion's book violated his trademark and portrait rights.
In 2004, Cruyff ended sixth place in the election of De Grootste Nederlander (The Greatest Dutchman).
In 2004, a documentary film was made about Cruyff's life, entitled Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado.
Johan Cruyff had a small hit (No.21 in the charts) in the Netherlands with "Oei Oei Oei (Dat Was Me Weer een Loei)." Upon arriving in Barcelona, the Spanish branch of Polydor decided to release the single in Spain as well, where it was rather popular.^[33]

Family

On 2 December 1968, Cruyff married Danny Coster. Johan and Danny have three children together: Chantal (16 November 1970), Susila (27 January 1972), and Jordi (9 February 1974). The family currently lives in Barcelona.
His son Jordi has played for teams such as Barcelona (while father Johan was manager), Manchester United, and Alavés. Interestingly, the younger Cruyff sports "Jordi" on his shirt to distinguish himself from his famous father, which also reflects the common Spanish practice of referring to players by given names alone or by nicknames. It is also related to the commercial claim of "name and fame" of his father to the name Cruyff-Cruijff.