Johan Cruyff

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (Amsterdam, 25 April 1947 – Barcelona, 24 March 2016), internationally spelled Cruyff, was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, as well as one of its best managers ever.

Johan Cruyff (Dutch Football Player and Manager)

Johan Cruyff (Futbolista y Entrenador Holandés)

Cruyff led the Netherlands to the final of the 1974 FIFA World Cup and received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. At the 1974 finals, he executed a feint that subsequently was named after him, the “Cruyff Turn”, a move widely replicated in the modern game. However, they lost to Germany in the final and Cruyff never won a World Cup. After finishing third in UEFA Euro 1976, Cruyff refused to play in the 1978 World Cup after a kidnapping attempt targeting him and his family in their Barcelona home dissuaded him from football. At club level, Cruyff started his career at Ajax, where he won eight Eredivisie titles, three European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup.
In 1973, Cruyff moved to Barcelona for a world record transfer fee, helping the team win La Liga in his first season (Barcelona’s first La Liga in a decade) and was named European Footballer of the Year. After retiring from playing in 1984, he became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later FC Barcelona; he remained an influential advisor to both clubs after his coaching tenures. His son Jordi also played football professionally.

Johan Cruyff (Niederländischer Fußballspieler und Manager)

约翰克鲁伊夫（荷兰足球运动员和经理

Wearing the number 14 jersey since 1970 (except at FC Barcelona and Feyenoord where he was assigned number 9 and 10 respectively), Cruyff set a trend for players to, if allowed, choose a jersey number outside the usual starting line-up of one to eleven. In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, and came second behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll. He came third in a vote organised by the French magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d’Or winners to elect their Football Player of the Century. He was included in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002, and in 2004 was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.

Johan Cruyff (Calciatore e Allenatore Olandese)

Johan Cruijff (Nederlands Voetballer en Manager)

In his autobiography, Cruyff explained why he made a set of 14 basic rules, which are displayed at every Cruyff Court in the world, “I read an article once about the building of the pyramids in Egypt. It turns out that some of the numbers coincide completely with natural laws, the position of the moon at certain times and so on. And it makes you think: how is it possible that those ancient people built something so scientifically complex? They must have had something that we don’t, even though we always think that we’re a lot more advanced than they were. Take Rembrandt and Van Gogh: who can match them today? When I think that way, I’m increasingly convinced that everything is actually possible. If they managed to do the impossible nearly five thousand years ago, why can’t we do it today? That applies equally to football, but also to something like the Cruyff Courts and school sports grounds. My fourteen rules are set out for every court and every school sports ground to follow. They are there to teach young people that sports and games can also be translated into everyday life.”

And he listed his 14 basic rules that include:

Team player – ‘To accomplish things, you have to do them together.’;
Responsibility – ‘Take care of things as if they were your own.’;
Respect – ‘Respect one another.’;
Integration – ‘Involve others in your activities.’;
Initiative – ‘Dare to try something new.’;
Coaching – ‘Always help each other within a team.’;
Personality – ‘Be yourself.’;
Social involvement – ‘Interaction is crucial, both in sport and in life.’;
Technique – ‘Know the basics.’;
Tactics – ‘Know what to do.’;
Development – ‘Sport strengthens body and soul.’;
Learning – ‘Try to learn something new every day.’;
Play together – ‘An essential part of any game.’;
Creativity – ‘Bring beauty to the sport.’

Йохан Кройф (голландский футболист и менеджер)

Johan Cruyff (Jugador i Entrenador de Futbol Holandès)

Named after Cruyff/Cruijff are:

Cruyff Turn (Cruijff Turn), a dribbling trick perfected by Cruyff. The trick was famously employed by Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup, first seen in the Dutch match against Sweden and soon widely emulated.
Johan Cruyff Shield (Johan Cruijff Schaal in Dutch), a football trophy in the Netherlands, also referred to as the Dutch Super Cup.
Johan Cruyff Award or Dutch Football Talent of the Year (Dutch: Nederlands Voetbal Talent van het Jaar), the title has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984 for footballers under 21. The award Dutch Football Talent of the Year was replaced by the Johan Cruyff Trophy (Johan Cruijff Prijs in Dutch) in 2003.
14282 Cruijff, the asteroid (minor planet) was named after Cruyff. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially ratified the naming of Cruijff on 23 September 2010.
Johan Cruyff Institute, an educational institution, founded by Johan Cruyff, aimed at educating athletes, sport and business professionals in the field of sport management, sport marketing, football business, sponsorship and coaching through a network that currently has five Johan Cruyff Institute (postgraduate and executive education), three Johan Cruyff Academy (graduate education) and five Johan Cruyff College (vocational training).
Johan Cruyff Foundation, founded in 1997 from the wish of Cruyff to give children the opportunity to play and be active.
Johan Cruyff Academy, offers elite athletes an opportunity to balance sports with a four-year Bachelor of Business Administration programme in Sport Marketing, a learning track of Commercial Economics. There are Johan Cruyff Academy in Amsterdam, Groningen and Tilburg. These Johan Cruyff Academy are part of Dutch universities of applied science.
Johan Cruyff College, offers elite athletes from all kinds of sports an opportunity to balance sport with vocational education. The programmes of the Johan Cruyff College are designed for students who practice sports at the highest levels in The Netherlands, and are delivered in Dutch. There are five Johan Cruyff College in The Netherlands: Amsterdam, Enschede, Groningen, Nijmegen and Roosendaal. Each Johan Cruyff College is part of a Regional Education Centre or ROC, academic centres that are administered by the Dutch government.
Cruyff Courts, smaller sized football fields suitable for seven-a-side game. A Cruyff Court is a modern alternative to the ancient green public playground, which one could find in a lot of neighbourhoods and districts, but that over the years has been sacrificed due to urbanisation and expansion.
Cruyff Classics, a sportswear brand conceived by Johan Cruyff.
Cruyffian school of football (also known as Barça–Ajax school or Barçajax school), a Total Football-inspired system of training and playing that was laid the foundations by Cruyff (1988–1996) and perfected by Guardiola (2008–2012).
Cruijffiaans, the name given to the way of speaking, or a collection of sayings, made famous by Cruyff, particularly “one-liners that hover somewhere between the brilliant and the banal”.
Cruyffista (mainly in Spain), a follower/supporter of Cruyff’s views (principles) on football development philosophy and sports culture. Some notable Cruyffistas include Joan Laporta, Pep Guardiola, Xavi, Luis Enrique, Ronald Koeman, Frank Rijkaard, Dennis Bergkamp, Roberto Martínez, Óscar García, Quique Setién, Arsène Wenger, and Jürgen Klinsmann.
Johan Cruyff Stadium (Estadi Johan Cruyff in Catalan) FC Barcelona’s newly constructed stadium is named after Cruyff.
Johan Cruyff Arena (Johan Cruijff Arena in Dutch), previously known as the Amsterdam Arena.