Football "lost one of its greatest on Thursday" when Johan Cruyff died in Barcelona after a battle with lung cancer, according to Raf Casert of the AP. He "was 68." Cruyff "stands next to Pele, Diego Maradona and Franz Beckenbauer among the best the sport has ever produced."
With his "wiry frame and long hair, his loose shirt emblazoned with '14' flapping in the wind, he could wrong-foot the best defenders with a mere wiggle of the hips." In an instant, he "would read a play -- no, create a play -- that others would need a full second for." With "stunning eye-feet coordination he could pick up a ball in midair and steer past a goalkeeper in one supremely graceful move."
Cruyff once said,
"Speed and insight are often confused. When I start running before everybody else, I appear faster." He "won three European championships with Ajax" from '71-73. He "was European player of the year three times and was named Europe's best player of the 20th century."
During the early '70s, "his magic eluded him only once, and only for 89 minutes of one game." It "was when he needed it most" -- the 1974 World Cup final against archrival West Germany in Munich. Cruyff "never won the World Cup."
Like others of his time, Cruyff "smoked heavily during his career and
afterward." He "quit after undergoing an emergency heart bypass in 1991."
In an anti-smoking film he made famous, Cruyff "took a pack of
cigarettes, crumpled it and started juggling it like a football, before
kicking it away with a mighty thump."
After more heart trouble in '97, he "stayed true to his vow to never
coach again at the highest level."
Instead he "became an acerbic, sometimes hurtful, critic and analyst,
savaging even his beloved Ajax, Barca and the Dutch national team
whenever he felt it necessary."
He became a European version of Yogi Berra with his famous quotes:
"Every disadvantage has its advantage," ''You can't win without the
ball," ''If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it
better" (AP, 3/24). In London, Gerard Meagher wrote as a player, Cruyff scored 392 times in 520 games over a 19-year career "but his influence reached far beyond creating goals, thanks to his qualities as a leader, thinker and speaker." As a coach "he had 242 victories in 387 matches, with 75 draws and 70 losses" (GUARDIAN, 3/24).
FOOTBALL GENIUS: In London, Tom Morgan wrote the Dutchman had lung cancer diagnosed last October and died "surrounded by his family in Barcelona." Rarely "has a footballer been so universally acknowledged as a genius as the quotes below show."
"He was certainly the best footballer Europe has produced." -- Beckenbauer
“He is like the godfather of Dutch football.” -- Frank Rijkaard
“A real football brain. He had superb control, he was inventive and he could perform magic with a ball to get himself out of trouble instinctively.” -- Bobby Charlton
“Johan Cruyff painted the chapel, and Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it.” -- Pep Guardiola
“When you saw Cruyff off the pitch he was like a thin boy. But on the pitch he was from another planet.” -- Rinus Michels (LONDON TIMES, 3/24).
MORE QUOTES:
"Today football has lost one of its best ever players and ambassadors. I am very sad because Johan was my childhood hero, my idol and my friend. I will miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family, and I send them my love." -- former France and Juventus midfielder Michel Platini.
"Football has lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history" -- former England striker Gary Lineker.
"We lost one of the best ever in world football. Johan Cruyff was simply an amazing player, coach, teacher and human." -- former Bayern Munich and Germany player/manager Jürgen Klinsmann.
INFANTINO STATEMENT: FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, "Johan Cruyff was a magnificent player, one of the greatest players the world has ever known. A symbol of elegant play. An inspiration. A source of admiration for fans. He has marked football history forever. I'm very saddened by his death. He will be terribly missed. Both personally and on behalf of FIFA and the world football community, I would like to extend my sincerest condolences to his family and friends" (FIFA).
IN SPAIN: Minutes after learning of Cruyff's death, a campaign to name Barcelona's Camp Nou after him "began at light speed." Hundreds of the club's fans were on social media demanding that the stadium be renamed "Estadio Johan Cruyff." The fans are using the Twitter hashtag #EstadiJohanCruyff, and "it was the leading topic on social media." A survey on Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia's website asking whether Barcelona should name its stadium after Cruyff received 2,081 of 2,387 votes in favor of the move. It is "unclear" what the popular initiative will lead to -- "perhaps nothing," as relations between Cruyff and Barcelona President Josep María Bartomeu "were not the best." Cruyff, who was close to former club President Joan Laporta, "expressed on several occasions his differences with the club's current leaders" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 3/24). In Barcelona, Francesc Aguilar wrote Cruyff "has not died, he is more alive than ever in the hearts of Barça, Barcelona fans, Ajax and Dutch and global football." Johan, "you live among us." Just "look at how the entire world has reacted." We "know that as long as a person is not forgotten, he remains present." We will "say with pride that we watched you play" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 3/24). In a statement, Barcelona said, "FC Barcelona would like to express its pain and sorrow at the passing away of Johan Cruyff (Amsterdam, 25/04/1947 -- Barcelona, 24/03/2016), who was both an FC Barcelona player and a coach and who will forever be a legend at the Club.
FC Barcelona wishes to send its most heartfelt sympathy to Johan Cruyff’s family at such a painful moment, a sentiment which the Club members, fans and the whole world of football and sport will share" (Barcelona).
FACT FILE
Name: Hendrik Johannes Cruijff, known as Johan Cruyff
Born: April 25, 1947 in Amsterdam
Position: Midfielder (playmaker)
Shirt number: 14
Clubs as player: Ajax ('64-73), Barcelona ('73-78), Los Angeles Aztecs ('79-80), Washington Diplomats ('80-81), Levante ('81), Ajax ('81-83), Feyenoord ('83-84)
Int'l career: Played for the Dutch national team from '66 until '77
Clubs as coach: Ajax ('85-88), Barcelona ('88-96), Catalonia ('09-'13)
Greatest successes as a player: Won the European Champions' Cup '71, '72 and '73; losing World Cup finalist '74; nine-time Dutch league champion; Spanish league champion '74
Greatest successes as a coach: European Champions' Cup '92; European Cup Winners' Cup '87, '89; four-time Spanish champion.
Awards: European Football of the Year '71, '73, '74; best player at 1974 World Cup (REUTERS, 3/24).
