Johan Cruyff facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Johan Cruyff
Personal information
Full name	Hendrik Johannes Cruijff
Date of birth	25 April 1947
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Date of death	24 March 2016 (aged 68)
Place of death	Barcelona, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1959-1964	Ajax
Senior career*
National team
Teams managed
1986-1988; 1988-1996	Ajax; Barcelona
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.; † Appearances (Goals).;

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and coach. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. Cruyff was the most famous exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in football history. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dutch football rose from obscurity to become a powerhouse in the sport. 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. Wearing the number 14 jersey, he set a trend for wearing shirt numbers outside the usual starting line-up numbers of one to eleven.

At club level, Cruyff started his career at Ajax, where he won eight Eredivisie titles, three European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. In 1973, he moved to Barcelona for a world record transfer fee, winning La Liga in his first season and was named European Footballer of the Year. After retiring from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later Barcelona; he remained an influential advisor to both clubs. His son Jordi also played football professionally.

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 chosen on 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.

Considered to be one of the most influential figures in football history, Cruyff's style of play and his football philosophy has influenced managers and players, including the likes of Arrigo Sacchi, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola, Frank Rijkaard, Michael Laudrup, Eric Cantona and Xavi. Ajax and Barcelona are among the clubs that have developed youth academies based on Cruyff's coaching methods. His coaching philosophy helped lay the foundations for the revival of Ajax's international successes in the 1990s. Spanish football's successes at both club and international level during the years 2008 to 2012 have been cited by many as evidence of Cruyff's impact on contemporary football. France Football ranked him at No. 4 on their list of the Top 50 football managers of all time..

Cruyff died of lung cancer.

His son is football manager Jordi Cruyff.

Club career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
1964/65	Ajax	Eredivisie	10	4	0	0	0	0	10	4
1965/66			19	16	4	9	0	0	23	25
1966/67			30	33	5	5	6	3	41	41
1967/68			33	25	5	6	3	2	41	33
1968/69			29	24	3	3	10	6	42	33
1969/70			33	23	5	6	8	4	46	33
1970/71			25	21	6	5	6	1	37	27
1971/72			32	25	4	3	9	5	45	33
1972/73			26	16	0	0	6	3	32	19
1973/74			2	3	0	0	0	0	2	3
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Europe		Total
1973/74	Barcelona	La Liga	26	16	0	0	0	0	26	16
1974/75			30	7	0	0	8	0	38	7
1975/76			29	6	0	0	9	2	38	8
1976/77			30	14	0	0	7	5	37	19
1977/78			28	5	7	1	10	5	45	11
United States			League		Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup		North America		Total
1979	Los Angeles Aztecs	NASL	27	16	-		-		27	16
1980	Washington Diplomats	NASL	27	10	-		-		27	10
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Europe		Total
1980/81	Levante	Segunda División	10	2	0	0	0	0	10	2
United States			League		Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup		North America		Total
1981	Washington Diplomats	NASL	5	2	-		-		5	2
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
1981/82	Ajax	Eredivisie	15	7	1	0	0	0	16	7
1982/83	Ajax	Eredivisie	21	7	7	2	2	0	30	9
1983/84	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	33	11	7	1	4	1	44	13
Country	Netherlands		308	215	48	40	54	25	410	280
	Spain		153	50	7	1	34	12	184	63
	United States		59	28	-		-		59	28
Total			520	293	55	41	88	37	663	371

International career statistics

Netherlands national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1966	2	1
1967	3	1
1968	1	0
1969	3	1
1970	2	2
1971	4	6
1972	5	5
1973	6	6
1974	12	8
1975	2	0
1976	4	2
1977	4	1
Total	48	33

Images for kids

Cruyff was instrumental in Ajax's dominance of European football in the early 1970s. He played for Ajax from 1957 to 1973 and 1981 to 1983 (seen here in 1967 against Feyenoord).
Cruyff playing for Ajax taking on Liverpool defender Tommy Smith in a European Cup game in December 1966
Cruyff played for Barcelona from 1973–1978
Johan Cruyff with Japanese fans in 1982
Cruyff's farewell at Feyenoord
Cruyff in the box during the 1974 World Cup Final, just before he was fouled for a penalty
Cruyff as manager of Ajax in 1987
Main façade of old La Masia, the name of FC Barcelona's football training facilities and often used to generically describe the Barcelona youth academy. La Masia academy was the brainchild of Cruyff.
Cruyff with the Catalonia national team in January 2013
Cruyff playing with Ajax in 1971. In modern football, Cruyff was one of the brilliant pioneers of the "false 9" position.
Spain's players celebrating their Euro 2012 victory. It didn't come as a coincidence as Barcelona and Spain ruled the world of football in the same period. Cruyff's football philosophy helped lay the systemic foundations for Spanish period of dominance (2008–2012) in world football at both club and international level.
Johan Cruyff after the 1973 European Cup Final. Ajax's victory meant that the club had earned the privilege of becoming the second European side, after Real Madrid, to keep the original European Cup/UEFA Champions League trophy permanently. Ajax is one of only five clubs (besides Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, A.C. Milan, and Liverpool) to achieve this feat.
The 3–4–3 (besides the 4–3–3) was always the favourite team formation of Cruyff in his coaching career. Barça's famous 4–3–3/3–4–3 system (with 3 real forwards) is among Cruyff's lasting legacy.
The original La Masia building was the symbolic home of Barça's youth academy. La Masia's coaching system is often considered as the foremost bastion of Cruyff's footballing ideology and Cruyffian (Barçajax) school.
As Cruyffian school's devout follower (Cruyffista), Pep Guardiola's reign at Barcelona (2008–2012) marked one of the most successful eras in the history of the club and its youth academy.
As Guardiola mentioned, Messi – with all his qualities – is considered as the best student and alumnus of Cruyffian school (of football).
At Barcelona, Víctor Valdés was a typical ball-playing goalkeeper or sweeper-keeper of Cruyff's Barçajax (Barça-Ajax) school of football.
Cruyff wearing number 14, the number most identified with him.
Cruyff and Danny Coster getting married on 2 December 1968
Cruyff receiving the 1971 Ballon d'Or