| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hendrik Johannes Cruijff | ||
| Date of birth | 25 April 1947 | ||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder/Forward | ||
Cruyff is a former Dutch football player and manager/coach. He was named European Footballer of the Year three times. In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second, behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll. Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed and acceleration, but his greatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-mates’ positions as an attack unfolded. He is believed Cruyff superior to any previous player in his ability to extract the most from others.
Club career:
Ajax
Cruyff joined Ajax youth system on his 10th birthday. He made his first team debut on 15 November 1964 in the Eredivisie, against GVAV, scoring the only goal for Ajax in a 3–1 defeat. That year Ajax finished in their lowest position since the establishment of professional football, 13th. Cruyff really started to make an impression in the 1965–66 season. Cruyff established himself as a regular first team player after scoring two goals against Door Wilskracht Sterk in the Olympic stadion on 24 October 1965 (in a 2–0 victory). In the seven games that winter he scored eight times and in March 1966, he scored the first three goals in a league game against Telstar (6–2 win). Four days later, in a cup game against Veendam (7–0 win), he scored four goals. In total that season, Cruyff scored 25 goals in 23 games, and Ajax won the league championship.
In the summer of 1973, Cruyff was sold to Barcelona for 60 million guilder (approx. US$ 20 million, c. 1973). On 19 August 1973, he played his last match for Ajax (Ajax — Amsterdam 6–1), the 2nd match of the 1973–74 season.
Barcelona
At Barcelona, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name Jordi for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5–0 at their home of Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year.
Note that Cruyff played two games with Paris Saint-Germain in 1975 during the Paris tournament. He had only agreed because he was a fan of designer Daniel Hechter, who was then president of PSG.
United States
At the age of 32, he signed a lucrative deal with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He had previously been rumored to be joining the New York Cosmos but the deal did not materialize. However, he did play exhibition games for the Cosmos. He stayed at the Aztecs for only one season, but was voted NASL Player of the Year in that time. The following season, he moved to play for the Washington Diplomats. He played the whole 1980 campaign for the Diplomats, even as the team was facing dire financial trouble at the time. In May 1981, Cruyff played as a guest player for Milan in a tournament, but was injured. As a result, he missed the beginning of the 1981 NASL soccer season thereafter, which ultimately led to Cruyff choosing to leave the team.
Levante
In January 1981, Cruyff played three friendly matches for FC Dordrecht. Also in January 1981, manager Jock Wallace of English club Leicester City made an audacious attempt to sign Cruyff. Despite negotiations lasting three weeks, in which Cruyff expressed his desire to play for the club, a deal could not be reached as he instead chose to sign with Spanish Segunda Division side Levante. In March 1981, Cruyff took the field for the first time for Levante. Injuries and disagreements with the administration of the club would blight his spell in the Segunda Division, as he was only able to amount 10 appearances after his signing, scoring two goals. Having failed to secure promotion to the first division, Levante did not keep the financial agreements that were specified in Cruyff's contract.
Back in the Netherlands
After his spell in the USA and a short-lived stay at UD Levante in Spain, Cruyff returned to play in his homeland, rejoining Ajax on 30 November 1980 as "technical advisor" of trainer Leo Beenhakker, Ajax being 8th in the ranking of the table of the Dutch League then after 13 games. Ajax would finish 2nd in 1980–81 in June 1981 after 34 games. In December 1981, Cruyff signed a new contract as player for Ajax.
Feyenoord
At the end of the 1982–83 season, Ajax decided not to offer Cruyff a new contract. This angered Cruyff, who responded by signing for Ajax's archrivals Feyenoord. dCruyff played his last game in Saudi Arabia, bringing Feyenoord back into the game with a goal and an assist.
International career:
As a Dutch international, Cruyff played 48 matches, scoring 33 goals. The national team never lost a match in which Cruyff scored. In his second Dutch national team match, a friendly against Czechoslovakia, Cruyff was the first Dutch international to receive a red card. He received a one-year suspension from the Royal Dutch Football Association.
Cruyff retired from international football in October 1977, having helped the national team qualify for the upcoming World Cup. Without him, the Netherlands finished runners-up in the World Cup again. Initially the reason given for missing the 1978 World Cup were political reasons given a military dictatorship was in power in Argentina at that time. In 2008, however, Cruyff stated to the journalist Antoni Bassas in Catalunya Ràdio that he and his family were involved in a kidnap attempt in Barcelona a year before the tournament, and that this had caused his retirement. "To play a World Cup you have to be 200% okay, there are moments when there are other values in life
