Johan Cruyff, one of soccer’s greatest players and most influential and visionary coaches, died aged 68 on Thursday after a five-month battle with lung cancer.
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In his glittering career, first as a player then a manager, Cruyff came to be identified with two of the most storied clubs in Europe, Ajax Amsterdam and FC Barcelona.
The football world immediately mourned the loss of one its greatest innovators.
In later years he was to enjoy coaching success at both sides, most notably at the Nou Camp where his “Dream Team” ended Barcelona’s wait for a European Cup with victory in the 1992 final.
The other two occasions were at club level, with Olsson playing for Swedish club Atvidabergs against Barcelona in the European Cup, but he never forgot his first encounter.
The Football Association are liaising with their Dutch counterparts over how to commemorate Cruyff’s life at next Tuesday’s friendly between the countries at Wembley, and whether that would include black armbands for the players and a minute’s silence or applause.
“I’ve lost a friend, the world has lost a great man. I admired him, he was the best player of all time”, said Platini, who like Cruyff was a three-time victor of the European player of the year award. He was my idol when I was young and then I had the good fortune to later play for him, so today is a hard day.
The one title that eluded Cruyff was the World Cup.
Tonight, when I take charge of my son’s U16 football training, I will sit them down and talk about Johan Cruyff.
33 – The number of goals scored by Cruyff in 48 appearances for Holland before a premature retirement from worldwide football ahead of the 1978 World Cup.
Johan Cruyff the Netherlands, Ajax and Barcelona legend passed away on Thursday, the 24th of March.
Former Ajax winger Jesper Olsen tells Omnisport he has fond memories of playing alongside the late Johan Cruyff. Johan Cruyff’s career as a coach was equally illustrious.
Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he invented the “Cruyff Turn”, a simultaneous lightning-fast drag back and 180-degree turn. He revealed in October a year ago that he had lung cancer.
“I didn’t have too close a relationship with him as circumstances didn’t allow it. But I know the influence he had on the club and that he transmitted to all future generations”.
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Cruyff, who was a heavy smoker and underwent double heart bypass surgery 1991, emerged as a world class player in the early 1970s.
