Cruyff – fabulous player, great coach and good person!

Johan Cruyff passed away on 24th March 2016 at the age of 68, after suffering from lung cancer. But he will always be remembered with his great abilities on the pitch and his good heart!

The Dutch legend was born on 25th April 1947 in Amsterdam. He spent all his free time playing football with the other kids, when he was a little boy. His father died when he was 12 and then he had to realize that such things happen in life…

At the age of 17 he was selected for the first time in the Ajax Amsterdam’s first team. He scored 4 goals in 9 appearances in his first season for the club (1964/65). Then he became an integral part of Ajax’s staring eleven. He won The Eredivisie on 6 occasions until 1973. But the most impressive achievement for Cruyff and his teammates was winning The European Cup 3 times in a row! Such record seems really difficult to be achieved at the moment.

The legendary Dutchman then played for Barcelona and was the key for Barca to lift the La Liga trophy in 1974. The most memorable moment for Cruyff in Barcelona was the 5-0 victory over Real Madrid at The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in 1974.

The Dutch national team, of which was Johan Cruyff a part, became famous for the ‘Total Football’ they played. The explanation is – any outfield can take the position of his teammate. You can see defenders attacking and midfielders coming at their places and so on.

However, Holland were unable to beat the host nation – West Germany in the final of 1974 FIFA World Cup. And that was the last World Cup for Johan Cruyff.

After 5 seasons at Barcelona, Johan Cruyff moved to the USA, where he played for the Aztecas and the Diplomats. He stayed in the United States only 2 years and then he felt it’s time to go back in Europe.

Cruyff was close to sign for Leicester City in 1981, but instead of this he moved to the Segunda Division side – Levante, but because of injuries and other problems Cruyff scored only 2 goals in 10 appearances for Levante.

Then Johan Cruyff returned to his favourite Ajax Amsterdam, where he won The Eredivisie two more times. In the last year of his professional career, Cruyff was signed by Feyenoord and it’s interesting that he managed to score a goal against Ajax in his last season. The legendary Dutchman won The Eredivisie and The Dutch Cup again and that was the end of his glorious career.

As a manager of Barcelona, he won La Liga on 4 occasions and The European Cup.

Johan Cruyff was one of the best football players ever and he had maybe the best understanding about the game! And he proved this, achieving such great things in football!