FOOTBALL LEGENDS
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Football Players Strikers Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff (April 25, 1947 March 24, 2016) was a legendary football "Flying Dutchman".
It is with his name, along with another amazing person - Ajax coach Rinus Michels, that the heyday of Dutch football in general and Ajax Amsterdam in particular is connected.
This man became the personification of a new era in football – the era of total football.
After completing his playing career, Cruyff appeared before the public as a coach.
In his new field, the "Flying Dutchman" proved himself as brilliantly as in previous years, for which he was included in the top ten field players by all authoritative sources in the world of football.
Little Johan spent almost all his childhood at Ajax, and literally on the basis of the Amsterdam club.
The fact is that Cruyff did not have a father, and his mother worked in the structure of the club.
Therefore, the son was constantly with his mother he looked at the football players, fiddled with the ball, dreamed of taking their place once.
At the age of twelve, the guy received a kind of gift – his mother, after talking with the Ajax coaches, identified him to the famous Dutch club.
It was difficult to imagine a better gift.
Johan was so imbued with the training process and games for the youth team that after 4 years they signed a real professional contract with him.
It is worth explaining that at that time, Ajax coach Rinus Michels started a big restructuring in the team.
He instilled in Ajax the so called "total football", the essence of which was that all field players participated in both attack and defense, regardless of their role.
The players had to move a lot on the field, change places, work a lot without the ball.
Often, the defense players went on the attack while the attackers were drawn closer to the defense, the attack could start from any part of the field, which confused the opponents.
The teams professing personal guardianship suffered especially.
Now it seems obvious, but in those days such football seemed unimaginable.
It is not surprising that Ajax with such a game in a short time turned into a world class star and in the period of the 1960s 70s was almost the strongest football team in Europe.
To implement his plans, Michels naturally needed specific players - players who could combine both defensive and attacking skills and who could fill any place on the field at the right time.
This is where the seventeen year old Cruyff came in handy, who, as it turned out, not only fits perfectly into the scheme of Michels, but can also perform the role of a leader on the field at such a young age and lead the team behind him.
He had practically no weak points, and the crazy speed (Johan ran 30 meters in 3.8 seconds) and fantastic coordination (it was normal for the great Cruyff to change the trajectory of movement at full speed) simply disarmed the defensive formations of the opponents.
And he got the nickname "Flying Dutchman" for the fact that he behaved very easily and gracefully on the field, as if he was not running, but soaring on the field.
The legendary Cruyff was one of the first to master the so – called game without the ball he constantly moved, moved around the field, could appear where no one was waiting for him.
But his game with the ball was even more striking than everyone else – excellent dribbling and excellent technique were his calling card.
Also, despite his apparent lightness, Johan was very competent at working with the body – it was almost impossible to take the ball away from him.
It is worth noting another " chip "in the game of the" Flying Dutchman " - this is the possession of an excellent pass and shot due to the fact that Cruyff used the outside of the foot for this.
The game of "shvedoy" led to the fact that the ball received an incredible trajectory - this quite often confused the opponents.
To match Cruyff, his partners at Ajax, and later on the national team, also acted.
This leads to the fact that the club from Amsterdam takes the lead in the Dutch championship, having won 6 championship titles between 1966 and 1973, losing first place only twice – in 1969 and 1971.
However, it is worth noting that in 1971, Ajax won the European Champions Cup for the first time in history, beating the Greek Panathiaikos 2-0 in the final.
In the same year, Johan Cruyff became the best football player in Europe and received the " Golden Ball "from the authoritative French football publication"FranceFootball".
Further more.
In 1972 and 1973, Ajax repeated the achievement by beating two legendary Italian football clubs Inter and Juventus in the finals, respectively.
In 1973 and 1974, Cruyff again became the best in Europe and the owner of the"Golden Balls".
The recognition of Cruyff is also facilitated by the confident game of the "Flying Dutchman" for the national team, where he first gets to the 19 year old age for a match with the Hungarian national team.
In this match, he also manages to distinguish himself, reducing the duel to a draw in the 88th minute.
It is worth noting that Ajax has never been rich and quite often earned money by selling its homegrown stars.
The same fate befell Cruyff.
In 1973, the "Flying Dutchman" went to Barcelona - at that time a rich, ambitious, but not too successful club.
In the new team, the great Johan Cruyff got down to business and the result was not long in coming – already in the same season, Barcelona becomes the champion of Spain.
And Ajax, after selling another of its leaders, Johan Neeskens, loses some shine, the zest of the game and after a while finally loses its superiority in Europe.
But "total football" remains a trademark of the Dutch national team, which in 1974 appeared in all its splendor at the World Cup in West Germany.
The former players of the once great club from Amsterdam come together again and demonstrate something amazing.
The only one who could restrain the frantic Cruyff and Neeskens turned out to be none other than Beckenbauer himself – the captain of the German national team.
Kaiser Franz did his job to contain the zealous attack, and the equally brilliant Gerd Muller did his job in the attack.
As a result, the defeat of the Dutch is a step away from the Champions Cup.
But the participation of the Dutch at that World Cup was seen by the whole world, who fell in love with the team itself in general and with its leader Johan Cruyff separately.
After 4 years at the World Cup in Argentina, the national team of the country of tulips was again in the final.
Where I lost again, and again to the hosts – this time to the Argentines.
But this was already without the great Johan Cruyff, who, despite numerous persuasions, said goodbye first to the Dutch national team, and then to Barcelona, and at the age of 31 went to the United States, so to speak, to raise football in that country.
After several seasons in the United States, playing for the Los Angeles Aztecs and Washington Diplomats, Cruyff returns to Europe and plays in the Levante team, which was not quite popular at that time.
Soon the great football player returns to his homeland, where he ends his career in 1984.
Later, Johan Cruyff became the coach of his native Ajax ,where he was from 1986 to 1988.
There he wins several trophies, including the Cup Winners ' Cup in 1987.
In 1988, the "Flying Dutchman" moved to Barcelona ,where he remained a coach until 1996.
And here he shows himself only from the best side, having won the European Champions Cup in 1992, the final of the European Champions Cup in 1994, becoming the champion of Spain 4 times.
As a player, and then as a coach, Johan Cruyff undermined his health, so he decided to leave coaching so early and retired.
Since then, he has been offered many times to lead various teams, including the Dutch national team, but he always refused.
On March 24, 2016, the "Flying Dutchman" was gone...
The culprit was lung cancer, which Cruyff had been fighting for a long time with varying success.
The legendary football player died at the age of 68 in his beloved city of Barcelona, surrounded by close people.
Rest in peace, legend...
Progress
AS A PLAYER
▪ Silver medalist of the World Championship: 1974
▪ Bronze medalist of the European Championship: 1976
▪ Champion of the Netherlands: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1983, 1984
▪ Winner of the Netherlands Cup: 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1983, 1984
▪ Champion of Spain: 1974
▪ Silver medalist of the Spanish Championship: 1976, 1977, 1978
▪ Spanish Cup Winner: 1978
▪ European Champions Cup winner: 1970/71, 1971/72, 1972/73
▪ European Champions Cup finalist: 1968/69
▪ UEFA Super Cup winner: 1972, 1973
▪ Winner of the Intercontinental Cup: 1972
AS A COACH
▪ Silver medalist of the Netherlands Championship: 1986, 1987
▪ Dutch Cup Winner: 1986, 1987
▪ Champion of Spain: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
▪ Spanish Cup Winner: 1990
▪ Spanish Super Cup winner: 1991, 1992, 1994
▪ European Champions Cup winner: 1991/92
▪ Finalist of the UEFA Champions League: 1993/94
▪ UEFA Cup Winners ' Cup winner: 1986/87, 1988/89
▪ Finalist of the UEFA Cup Winners ' Cup: 1990/91
▪ Winner of the UEFA Super Cup: 1992
▪ Intercontinental Cup Finalist: 1992
PERSONAL
▪ The best football player of the Netherlands for the period 1954-2003 (anniversary prize for the 50th anniversary of UEFA)
▪ Golden Ball winner: 1971, 1973, 1974
▪ Winner of the "Bronze Ball": 1975
▪ The best Foreign footballer of the Year in Spain: 1977, 1978
▪ Top scorer of the Netherlands championship: 1967 (33 goals), 1972 (25 goals)
▪ Dutch Cup Top scorer: 1966 (9 goals)
▪ Top scorer of the European Champions Cup: 1971/72 (5 goals)
▪ 2nd place in the list of the best football players of the XX century according to the IFFIIS
▪ 1st place in the list of the best football players in Europe of the XX century according to the IFFIIS
▪ 3rd place in the list of the greatest football players of the XX century according to World Soccer
▪ 2nd place in the list of the greatest players of Barcelona
▪ 3rd place in the list of the best scorers of the Dutch championship for all time: 215 goals
▪ On the FIFA 100 list
▪ The best football player of the 1974 World Cup
▪ Winner of the Dutch Golden Boot: 1984
▪ Athlete of the Year in the Netherlands: 1973, 1974
▪ Onze Mondial Coach of the Year in Europe: 1992, 1994
▪ World Soccer Coach of the Year: 1987
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