Jordi Cruyff facts for kids
Cruyff in 2009
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 February 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.85 m | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1981–1988 | Ajax | ||
| 1988–1992 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1992–1994 | Barcelona B | 47 | (14) |
| 1994–1996 | Barcelona | 41 | (11) |
| 1996–2000 | Manchester United | 34 | (8) |
| 1999 | → Celta Vigo (loan) | 8 | (2) |
| 2000–2003 | Alavés | 94 | (8) |
| 2003–2004 | Espanyol | 30 | (3) |
| 2006–2008 | Metalurh Donetsk | 28 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Valletta | 17 | (10) |
| Total | 299 | (56) | |
| National team | |||
| 1996 | Netherlands | 9 | (1) |
| 1995–2004 | Catalonia | 9 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2017–2018 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||
| 2018–2019 | Chongqing Dangdai Lifan | ||
| 2020 | Ecuador | ||
| 2020–2021 | Shenzhen | ||
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Jordi Cruyff was born on February 9, 1974, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He is a Dutch-Spanish professional football manager and former player. He also worked as a sporting director for professional football clubs.
Jordi is the son of the famous footballer Johan Cruyff. He played football from 1992 to 2010 for big clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United. He also played nine times for the Netherlands national team, including in the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament. In 1997, he won the Premier League title with Manchester United.
Jordi mostly played as an attacking midfielder, which means he helped create goals. Sometimes, he also played as a second striker, scoring goals himself. Later in his career, he even played as a centre back, helping to defend his team's goal.
After his playing career, Jordi became a successful sporting director. He helped clubs like Maccabi Tel Aviv win league titles and qualify for major European competitions like the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League. He later became a football manager and is currently a sporting advisor at FC Barcelona.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Playing for Barcelona
In 1992, Jordi Cruyff started his professional career with Barcelona B. He quickly became one of the team's top scorers. Two years later, he joined the main Barcelona team.
During a pre-season tour, he scored three goals in two different matches. On September 4, 1994, he played his first top-level game in La Liga. He also played against Manchester United in the Champions League, helping Barcelona win 4–0.
Even though he wasn't always a regular starter, Jordi was one of Barcelona's top scorers that season. He even scored a crucial goal that helped Barcelona qualify for European competitions the next year. He played his last game for Barcelona in May 1996.
Time at Manchester United
In August 1996, Jordi joined Manchester United. He signed a four-year contract. He made his first appearance on August 11, 1996, in a big 4–0 win. He then scored in his next two games.
Jordi played regularly at first, but his time at Manchester United was often affected by injuries. These injuries meant he didn't play as many games as he would have liked. In January 1999, he went on loan to Celta Vigo in Spain.
He returned to Manchester United and his contract ended in June 2000. In total, he played 57 games and scored eight goals for the club.
Return to La Liga and European Final
After leaving Manchester United, Jordi returned to Spain. He joined Alavés for free. With Alavés, he had a very exciting moment in the 2001 UEFA Cup Final against Liverpool.
Alavés was losing 3–1, but they made an amazing comeback. Jordi scored a goal in the 89th minute, making the score 4–4! The game went into extra time, and Alavés sadly lost due to an own goal.
Jordi played for Alavés until 2003 when the club was moved to a lower league. The next season, he played for Espanyol. He played regularly for one season before deciding to leave.
Later Playing Career
After a short break from football, Jordi returned in 2006. He played two seasons for Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine. During this time, he also started working in the fashion business, helping to create the Cruyff clothing brand.
In 2009, Jordi moved to Malta and joined Valletta. He was a player and also an assistant manager. He played his first game in July 2009 in a European competition. He scored his first league goal in August 2009. Valletta won a local trophy in his first season.
Even though he played mostly as a defensive player later in his career, Jordi took on a more attacking role with Valletta.
International Career
Jordi had the chance to play for both Spain and the Netherlands at a young age. He chose to play for the Netherlands.
In 1996, he was picked for the Netherlands squad for UEFA Euro 1996. He made his first appearance for the national team in April 1996. He scored his only goal for the Netherlands during a 2–0 win against Switzerland in June 1996.
Career as Sports Director
In 2010, Jordi Cruyff stopped playing professional football. He became a director of football for AEK Larnaca in Cyprus. His job was to help manage the club and its players.
In his first season, the team finished fourth and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. In his second season, AEK Larnaca made history by becoming the first Cypriot team to reach the group stage of the Europa League.
In 2012, Jordi became the sports director for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. He helped the club become very successful again. Under his leadership, Maccabi Tel Aviv won their first league championship in ten years. They won the league by a large number of points and scored the most goals while letting in the fewest.
The club continued to win league titles in the following seasons. They also did well in the Europa League, reaching the round of 32. In 2015, Maccabi Tel Aviv became the first Israeli team to win all three local trophies: the league, the State Cup, and the Toto Cup. Jordi signed a new contract to stay with the club for two more years.
In the 2015–16 season, Jordi helped Maccabi Tel Aviv qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages for the first time in 11 years. They played against big teams like Chelsea and Porto.
Managerial Career
In the 2017–18 season, Jordi Cruyff became the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv. He led the team to win the Toto Cup. They also finished second in the league and qualified for European competitions for the sixth year in a row. At the end of the season, he decided to leave the club for new challenges.
On August 8, 2018, Jordi was appointed manager of Chongqing Dangdai Lifan, a team in the Chinese Super League. In 2019, he led the club to their best start ever in the Super League. He chose not to renew his contract and left the club at the end of the season.
In January 2020, Jordi agreed to become the manager of the Ecuador national side. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ecuador did not play any matches or have any training camps while he was in charge. He resigned in July 2020.
On August 14, 2020, Jordi was appointed manager of another Chinese Super League club, Shenzhen. In June 2021, he was appointed as a sporting advisor for FC Barcelona.
Honours
Player
Barcelona
- Supercopa de España: 1994
Manchester United
- Premier League: 1996–97
- FA Charity Shield: 1996, 1997
Manager
Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Toto Cup: 2017–18
See also
In Spanish: Jordi Cruyff para niños
