Johan Cruyff, A Football Legend

Sadly, footballer Johan Cruyff passed away yesterday at the age of 68 from a battle with cancer. We at Obilisc are saddened by his passing and so are producing this blog to honour him.

Johan Cruyff was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands on the 25th of April 1947. This date marked the begging of the life of one of the greatest footballers to ever live. He was both a successful player and manager, with 3 European Player Of The Year trophies to his name (he was the first person to achieve this). He played in the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States over the course of his career, and also managed teams in the Netherlands and Spain, as well as coaching the Catolonia National side and was placed as an advisor for Chivas Guadalajara in Mexico, and for Ajax in the Netherlands.

Johan during his playing career at Ajax

He began his senior football career for his home side of Ajax in 1964, this was during the time of Rinus Michels. His effective strategy of ‘Total Football’ was the idea that all players on the pitch (except the goalkeeper) could interchange positions with near no trouble.

Between 1966 and 1973, Johan and the Ajax side won:

• Six Dutch Championships (1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72 and 1972–73)
• Three European Cups (1971, 1972 and 1973)
• Two UEFA Super Cups (1972 and 1973)
• Ballon d’Or Award (Personal Award for Cruyff) (1971, 1973 and 1974)
• European Player of the Year (1971, 1973 and 1974)

During his caree, he scored 293 goals in 520 club appearances. He also scored 33 goals in 48 appearances for the Netherlands, but will probably be most remembered for wearing the no.14, his technical ability, speed, acceleration, being an unstoppable force, and of course, the creation of the Cruyff Turn.

After his playing career had finished, Johan ‘began his coaching career at Ajax, but it was at Barcelona that his revolutionary vision of a free flowing attacking style of football came to real fruition, when he assembled a team that included Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov, Ronald Koeman and Josep Guardiola. Fondly remembered by Catalonians as the ‘Dream Team’, they succeeded in winning a host of domestic trophies as well as the 1992 European Cup. (http://www.football-history.net)

Johan during his playing career at Barcelona.

Overall, I think he was one of the best footballers of his time, and maybe even the best ever in Europe. Not many players come close to his caliber, and even less exceed him. So today, we should show our respect to him and wish his family well.

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Originally published at obilisc.com on March 25, 2016.