Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Johan Cruijff (sometimes spelled Cruyff; born
April 25, 1947 in Amsterdam) is a
Netherlands|Dutch football (soccer)|football
trainer/coach and former star player. Early in his
career, he was a silky exponent of the football
philosophy known as Total Football, developed by
his trainer Rinus Michels.

Cruijff played successively for Ajax
Amsterdam|Ajax, FC Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs,
Washington Diplomats, Levante Union Deportiva and
Feyenoord Rotterdam|Feyenoord. As a player,
Cruijff was known for his technical ability: his
mesmeric ball skill, speed and acceleration, the
ability to change direction at will and his
tactical insights make him one of the most gifted
footballers of all time.  He has been named as one
of the best football players of his generation,
alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Pelé, although he
did not win a cup or tournament with his national
team.  As a Netherlands national football
team|Dutch international he played 48 matches, in
which he scored 33 goals.

The highlights of his football career as a player
include winning the UEFA Champions League|European
Cup three times (1971 - 3, with Ajax), the Ballon
d'Or (European Player of the Year) thrice (1971,
1973 - 4), and leading the Netherlands to a
runners-up medal in the Football World Cup
1974|1974 World Cup.  In 1978 he refused to
participate in the Football World Cup 1978|World
Cup that was held in Argentina; the Netherlands
emerged  runners-up again that year.

Johan Cruijff has trained two football clubs after
his active career as a player, Ajax and Barcelona.
As a manager he led Ajax to victory in the
European Cup Winners' Cup (1987) and Barça to
four league titles (1991 - 4), as well as the
European Cup (1992).

Cruijff used to smoke 20 cigarette|cigarettes a
day prior to undergoing double heart bypass
surgery in 1991, after which he quit smoking
forever and began chain-sucking Chupa Chups
lollipops instead. He also led the anti-smoking
campaign developed by the Health Department of the
Catalonia|Catalan government. 

In November 2003 Cruijff invoked legal proceedings
against the publisher Tirion Uitgevers, over its
photo book Johan Cruijff de Ajacied, which used
photographs by Guus de Jong.  Cruijff was working
on another book, also using De Jong's photographs,
and claimed unsuccessfully that Tirion's book
violated his trademark and portrait rights.

The Dutch Supercup is named after him: Johan
Cruijff-schaal.

His son, Jordi Cruyff|Jordi Cruijff, has played
for teams such as FC Barcelona, Manchester United
and Deportivo Alavés|Alaves. Cruijff was his
trainer at Barça.

During his career Cruijff also became a national
phenomenon on account of his comments, some of
which stood out in brilliance and pure logic. His
form of speech was dubbed "Cruijffiaans" in the
Netherlands. Some examples:

* "Italians can not beat us, but we can certainly
lose against them" ("Italianen kunnen niet van ons
winnen, maar we kunnen wel van ze verliezen.")
* "Without the ball, you can't win" ("Zonder de
bal kun je niet winnen.")
* "Speed is often confused with insight. When I
start running before the rest, I appear faster."
("Snelheid wordt vaak verward met inzicht. Als ik
eerder ga lopen dan de rest, lijk ik sneller.")
*"Before I make a mistake, I DO NOT make that
mistake" ("Voordat ik een fout maak, maak ik die
fout niet.")
*"Every disadvantage has its advantage" ("Elk
nadeel heeft z'n voordeel.")
*"To win you have to score one more goal than your
opponent" ("Om te winnen moet je 1 goal meer
scoren dan je tegenstander")
*and his most famous saying: "Chance is logical"
("Toeval is logisch.")

His influence on the Spanish language has been
subject of the documentary
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397483/ En un momento
dado released in 2004.

start box
succession box|title=European Footballer of the
Year|before=Gerd Müller |after=Franz
Beckenbauer|years=1971
succession box|title=European Footballer of the
Year|before=Franz
Beckenbauer|after=retained|years=1973
succession box|title=European Footballer of the
Year|before=current holder 
 |after=Oleg
Blokhin|years=1974
end box