Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It comes with some sadness to announce that Johan Cruyff has unfortunately lost his battle with Lung Cancer. A statement on his website reads:
“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.”
Where do you start in trying to summarise this man’s career not only as a Player but a Manager also. The undoubted star of the 1974 World Cup where the Cruyff Turn was born, winner of 3 successive European Cup’s with Ajax between 1971 and 1973 and then idolised at Barcelona.
The Godfather of the Nou Camp and Manager of the famous Dream Team which saw Barcelona restored to the top of Spanish Football after a sustained period of Real Madrid dominance. 4 La Liga titles in a row and more importantly the clubs first ever European Cup success in 1992 when he led his side to a win over Sampdoria at Wembley.
But he won’t just be remembered by Barcelona for his managerial spell, he will be mainly revered for putting the groundwork in place for the Barcelona we see today. The tiki-taka style was implemented first by Cruyff and then continued by compatriots Louis Van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard. The whole fabric of the La Masia academy is built on the principles of tiki-taka and they are more then reaping the rewards with their current generation of players
Cruyff was also arguably the first REAL superstar Footballer. He understood his worth and the value of celebrity, the first player to really market himself on a global stage in a time where sport and business started to become entwined. A Footballing Icon
It was only announced a few months ago that Cruyff had been diagnosed with Cancer and last month he said he was winning the battle against it but that it was only “half time” – unfortunately he lost the batlle last night and the world of Football loses one of it’s greatest icons.
I expect Johan Cruyff will be turning in his grave. Rest In Piece
