• Cruyff dies of cancer at home in Barcelona
• Dutchman led Holland to the final of the 1974 World Cup
The Holland football legend Johan Cruyff has died of cancer at the age of 68. The Dutchman, who on three occasions was voted the world player of the year, guided Holland to the World Cup final in 1974 and as a manager he spent eight years in charge of Barcelona.
“On March 24 2016 Johan Cruyff (68) died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard fought battle with cancer. It’s with great sadness that we ask you to respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief,” read a statement on the World of Johan Cruyff website.
Just last month the former Ajax, Barcelona and Holland star, one of the main exponents, along with Rinus Michels, of the world famous Total Football – the Dutch style of play that involved players constantly interchanging roles – popularised in the 1970s but still playing a major influence on modern football,said he was “2-0 up” in his match with lung cancer.
“With great sadness we have learned of the death of Johan Cruyff. Words are not enough,” wrote the Dutch football federation on Twitter. Ajax issued a short statement that read: “Johan Cruyff has died in Barcelona at the age of 68. The greatest Ajax player of all time had suffered with lung cancer since October last year. Ajax share in this great loss and wish the families much strength.”
Cruyff, who was a heavy smoker until undergoing heart surgery in 1991, made his illness public in October last year. He was regarded as one of the game’s greatest players. He led Ajax to three consecutive European Cups from 1971 to 1973 and was the linchpin for Holland as they were beaten 2-1 in the final of the 1974 World Cup by West Germany. During the tournament his eponymous turn was first seen against Sweden and soon copied the world over.
By then he had joined Barcelona for a world record fee. He went on to become a huge favourite at the Camp Nou, eventually coaching the Catalan club to a first European Cup triumph in 1992 as well as winning four successive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994, having managed Ajax from 1985 to 1988. Barcelona tweeted: “We will always love you, Johan. Rest in peace,” while a club statement issued later said: “FC Barcelona would like to express its pain and sorrow at the passing away of Johan Cruyff, 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. Rest in peace. Thank you Johan.”
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.
The current and five-times world player of the year, Lionel Messi, was among the first to pay tribute to Cruyff, writing on his Twitter account: “RIP Johan Cruyff. Your legacy will live on forever.”
The Belgium captain and Manchester City central defender Vincent Kompany was quick to follow suit. “Johan Cruyff, true football royalty. I don’t think anyone has ever influenced the game as much as he has done. We have all been touched and inspired by his vision and his believes. Football will miss him but we will never forget. #JohanCruyff.”
Ruud Gullit, who played with Cruyff at Feyenoord, said: “I’m perplexed, I thought he was getting better. Holland lost a face in the world. He put our football on the map. Furthermore he’s been extremely important for my career.”
Roy Hodgson, whose England side are due to host Holland at Wembley on Tuesday, said: “I’m extremely saddened. I think the world of football has lost one of the true legends of the game, both as a player and as a coach. His achievements really were second to none, and also as a man and a person.”
Johan Cruyff obituary: An audaciously talented striker who gave the world Total Football
The Holland, Barcelona and Ajax legend passed away aged 68 following his battle with lung cancer
To football lovers of a certain age Johan Cruyff was THE man.
The audaciously talented striker who was the onfield inspiration of a Holland team that gave the world Total Football. From the late Sixties, through his Seventies playing heyday, Cruyff was the most stylish exponent of the interchanging tactical system originated by master coach Rinus Michels.
The Holland team of that era was blessed with an abundance of superstars such as Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol Rob Rensenbrink and Jonny Rep. But while they were acclaimed as brilliant standard bearers for an attacking style that made them the most popular team in world football, Cruyff was their ultimate star.
To those with an idle moment I suggest they go on Youtube and search out footage of Cruyff in his pomp. His electric turn of pace, his lethal finishing skills and, of course, the gravity-defying change of direction that will forever be known as “The Cruyff turn”.
After the years where football had globally become dull, defensive and lacking in fun, Cruyff and his Holland mates delivered breathtaking excitement and brio.
Cruyff was also multi-lingual. I remember him walking into a media scrum at Elland Road when Barcelona played Leeds in a European Cup semi-final in 1975 and conducting interviews in Spanish, English and Italian. This man was a footballer of intellect and opinions who was cosmopolitan in a way we’d never seen before.
And it wasn’t just as one of the world’s great players that Cruyff thrilled the sporting public. After his retirement he moved into coaching and arguably his legacy became even greater.
People connected with Barcelona insist Cruyff is the most important man in the modern history of the game. They base that claim on the fact that he is the architect of the modern Barca style. The tiki-taki style was just part of it. He encouraged his players to love having the ball. To see themselves as creators.
He created a playing style that made Barcelona serial champions of Europe and acknowledged as a team that football fans everywhere loved to watch and envy.
I had the privilige of interviewing him on several occasions. The most memorable was during the World Cup in France in 1998 when we were staying at the same hotel in Carcassonne. I’d asked him for an interview the night before at a Holland game in Toulouse. He suggested we meet for breakfast and he’d give me half an hour of his time.
Well that half hour became two hours as he explained his ideology, his condemnation of the negative forces that limited a sport he truly believed was the beautiful game and his beliefs that there was a way football could still excite and enthrall lovers of the game.
Johan Cruyff honours (as a player and manager)
Typically, he had some strong opinions on English football. He teased me by suggesting I must wish Ryan Giggs was English and not Welsh, after all, he believed Giggs was better than any of the England team competing in that World Cup finals.
He thought David Beckham was a good player, but not in the same league as Giggs who possessed the skill, balance and dribbling ability that would make him a favourite of Cruyff.
There was a commercial streak in Johan that often shone through. He played at a time when sponsors - epsecially kit and boot manufacturers - were fighting for supremacy. He made sure none of them could take him for granted.
There was deep sadness in the Mirror office when the news of Johan’s death was released on the website of his foundation. Cruyff never played for an English club, never worked here as a coach or manager but still attained a status in our affection normally reserved for our British sporting gods.
Cruyff was that good. A genius footballer. A true great. Yet while the likes of Diego Maradona and Pele could never take their playing talents into coaching, Cruyff emerged as a supreme thinker and giant of management.
Few, if any, will ever rival his career in football.
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