FIFA World Cup Legends: Johan Cruyff
The Dutch maestro and the lynch pin of their brilliant “total football” side which made two consecutive world cup finals in the years 1974 and 1978 was perhaps the best striker ever.
A man who would ease the minds of others playing with him, on the field he was an individual who could change the game with a brilliant move or even better, create a footballing move all by himself. Voted as the European player of the century by the fans through IFII and voted second to Pele as the World Player of the Century through the same platform, Cruyff holds a joint record of winning the European player of the year award three times with Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten.
In his youth Cruyff played football at the Dutch club Ajax which had initiated the total football philosophy. At his club, Cruyff used to play as a striker who would also drop deep, pick out passes or go on the wing and run at opponents. These attributes of his, along with his clever shifting of positions earned him the title of “total footballer”, meaning a player who could play in any attacking position.
Cruyff played a total of 44 times on the Dutch national side and scored 33 times for the team. His most famous run of performances saw him leading the side to the final of the 1974 World Cup and in doing so turning many neutrals over to the Dutch side, because of their clean fluid attacking style of play. Cruyff’s side knocked out giants such as Argentina, Brazil and East Germany on their way to the final of the World Cup with Cruyff leading the line in most of these games but one of the true displays of genius came after Cruyff introduced a new dribbling skill in his teams match against Sweden, the skill is since then known as the “Cruyff turn” and is to this date copied by many footballers around the world, in doing so Cruyff became one of the few elite players who have a foot-balling move or dribble named after them. In the Netherlands vs. Argentina game, Cruyff perhaps gave the best performance of his career.
He scored two goals against their tight defense as Netherlands overpowered the Argentines 4 goals to nil. In the match against Brazil, Cruyff scored the second goal for the Dutch who in one of the rare moments in international football outplayed Brazil. In the second round group game against the East Germans, Cruyff again took charge of the game but this time ran the midfield display as Neeskens and Rensenbrink scored for the Dutch.
The Dutch played against a determined and resolute West German side in the finals, which was led by their star defender Franz Beckenbauer, the game was hyped up to be a contest between the two superstars Beckenbauer and Cruyff. The game started with Cruyff initiating one of his trade mark runs which was eventually ended by the German defender Uwe Hoeneb in the German penalty area. The result was a penalty kick and the Cruyff himself converted it into a goal and gave his team the lead. The Dutch were in front and the Germans had not even touched the ball once.
West Germany came back into the game in the 28th minute when they were awarded a penalty of their own which they converted to bring the score to one all. Beckenbauer and Co. took control of the game and in due time Germany scored their second goal through Gerd Muller. Cruyff was heavily marked by the German defense and was unable to influence the game any further. West Germany eventually won the match 2-1. The result has been seen as a defeat for total football, but promoters of the ideology say that it is not a result based strategy but a philosophical one which focuses on taking football back to its entertaining roots. Cruyff soon retired from International football in the year 1977 after helping the Dutch qualify for the 1978 World Cup. The reasons for his retirement still remain ambiguous to this day.
The biggest tragedy of football is the fact that the best team doesn’t always win. Johan Cruyff remains one of the best players of the game but has never won a World Cup title. Johan Cruyff himself said “Football is simple, but the hardest thing there is, is to play simple football” clearly he achieved the hardest thing there is according to him and clearly he is truly ‘De Majestueuze’, ‘The Majestic’ as the Dutch call him.
Tags: