RIP Johan Cruyff : Netherlands soccer legend dies at 68
Johan Cruyff, who helped turn the previously forlorn Netherlands into a world soccer powerhouse in the 1970s and is considered one of the sport’s all-time greats, died Thursday in Barcelona after a long batter with lung cancer, according to his personal website. He was 68.
Cruyff won the Ballon d’Or, then given to Europe’s top player, in 1971 with Ajax and in 1973 and 1974 with Barcelona after joining the La Liga side on what was then a world-record transfer fee. He led Ajax to three consecutive European cups from 1971 to 1973. In 1974, he helped Barcelona win its first La Liga crown since 1960.
On the international stage, Cryuff was one of the more prominent proponents of a Dutch-born tactical movement called Total Football in which every player on the field could assume any position at any time (except the goalkeeper). The Netherlands advanced to the 1974 World Cup final in its first appearance on soccer’s biggest stage since 1938, and Cryuff was named the tournament’s top player despite his team’s 2-1 loss to host West Germany in the final. He also helped the Netherlands qualify for the 1978 World Cup but didn’t end up playing after he was shaken by a kidnapping attempt on his family in 1977 while in Barcelona. The Dutch again finished second after losing to host Argentina.
At age 32, Cryuff helped soccer gain a toehold in the United States by signing with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League, winning league MVP honors in his one season in Southern California. He then moved to Washington, playing one season and scoring 12 goals for the Diplomats.
Here’s The Post’s Dave Kindred, writing about Cryuff shortly after his arrival in Washington in 1980:
To get provincial about this, is the Diplomats’ hiring of Cruyff a bigger deal than the Senators hiring Ted Williams to manage? Is Cruyff coming here a bigger thing than Vince Lombardi saying he would coach the Redskins?
One word answers both those questions: Yes. Cruyff’s arrival in Washington is, in his game, more important to his team, both artistically and financially, than anything Williams or Lombardi brought with them.
Let’s try this another way. Put it into football language. For the Redskins today to do something as big as the Diplomats’ hiring of Cruyff, they would have to shanghai Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann.
Cryuff later found great success as a coach, leading Barcelona to 11 trophies in La Liga and European play between 1988 and 1996.
One of the greatest playr ever and one of the greatest coach ever. and even if he was retired from the fields, he's legacy still ives in FC Barcelona (and in Bayern Muynchen since Bayern's coach Guardiola learn nearly everything about soccer when he was playing for Barcelona, with Cruyff as coach).
RIP, Mr Cruyff. Or, as we say in french, ciao l'artiste
