Amsterdam (dpa) – Pelé, Maradona, Beckenbauer – they all shaped football during their playing days and afterwards. But arguably no one had as much of an impact on the game as Johan Cruyff.
“His legacy knows no bounds,” said star coach Pep Guardiola of the Dutch football legend, who would have been 75 today. Cruyff was the coach of the current Manchester City coach at FC Barcelona for a number of years and made an impression on the Spaniard like no one before or after him. “I didn’t know anything about football,” Guardiola once said, “until I met Cruyff. It was through him that we understood football.”
Cruyff, who died of lung cancer six years ago, is still revered at the stations of his career today. FC Barcelona appointed him honorary president, in Amsterdam the arena is named after the legendary number 14. The “James Dean of football”, as Arsène Wenger once called the gifted playmaker, is still idolized almost everywhere in the football world. “Cruyff was a source of inspiration for our entire generation. Also because of his charisma. His whole appearance radiated freedom,” said Wenger.
Beauty of the game more important than results
Freedom – that was also the core of Cruyff’s football philosophy. The unconditional attacking football of Cruyff’s teams went down in history as “Voetbal totaal”. Despite all his ambition, the beauty of the game was always more important to him than the result. The defeat in the final of the 1974 World Cup in Munich against Germany still bothered him many years later. But Cruyff was proud of the World Cup itself and the Oranje team’s thrilling game.
“Of course I would have liked to have won the final in Munich, but the fact that we’re still being talked about all over the world as the team that played the most beautiful football is a bigger victory for me than winning the World Cup.” Cruyff once said in retrospect about the 2-1 draw against Beckenbauer and Co. in Munich’s Olympic Stadium.
So Cruyff was denied the big title win with the Oranje team under his mentor Rinus Michels. At club level, on the other hand, the genius on the ball won all the important titles. Between 1971 and 1973 he led Ajax to the European Cup title three times in a row, and he achieved the feat with FC Barcelona in 1992 as coach. Guardiola in midfield, Ronald Koeman in defense and the eccentric Hristo Stoichkow on offense had perfected Cruyff’s offensive magic with dizzying ball relays.
Cruyff feared as an expert and columnist
The Catalan metropolis became the second home of “King Johan”. His former club raved about the “Dutch magician” in his obituary in 2016. “You can’t win without the ball,” was Cruyff’s philosophy. And this is how Barca played for years under the Dutch star coach, who also repeatedly offended off the pitch with his penchant for perfection, his stubbornness and his penchant for know-it-alls. “He often let his opponents on the field run into nowhere and the public too when he thought it was appropriate,” writes the renowned Dutch author Auke Kok in his recently published book “Johan Cruyff – Total Football. The Biography”.
Cruyff spoke his mind bluntly throughout his life. His appearances as an expert on television or as a columnist in the newspaper “De Telegraaf” were feared by coaches and players. But Cruyff’s unparalleled skill as a professional and coach allowed him to take on the role of chief critic.
The “Rembrandt of football”, as the trade magazine “Voetbal International” wrote these days, was revered until his death and beyond. “Der Spiegel” wrote six years ago on the day of his death: “March 24, 2016 is the day football died. Just like Buddy Holly invented rock ‘n’ roll, Johan Cruyff invented football, like us know him today.”