Johan Cruyff

He got married to Danny Coster on 2 December, 1968. The couple has two daughters - Chantal and Susila and a son - Jordi. Jordi Cruyff went on to become a professional footballer.

Johan Cruyff died of lung cancer on 24 March 2016, in Barcelona, Spain, at the age of 68.

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff, better known as Johan Cruyff, was born on 25 April, 1947 in Amsterdam, Netherlands to Hermanus Cornelis Cruijff and his wife Petronella Bernarda Draaijer. The family had modest means but Cruyff’s father was a keen follower of football and encouraged him to play as much football as he could.

He was an enthusiastic footballer right from his childhood and played with his school friends and entered the Ajax youth ranks as a 10 year old. His father died when he was only 12, and he wanted to become a footballer in memory of his father.

He progressed through the youth ranks at Ajax pretty quickly and by the time the season started in 1965, he established himself in the senior team by scoring regularly. Cruyff returned a tally of 25 goals in the season as Ajax ended up the league champions.

Following his breakthrough season with Ajax in 1965, he continued to be the main goals scorer at the club and helped the club win the league title in each of the next two seasons. Four years after first becoming a part of the team, Cruyff went to play the European Cup final for Ajax but the club ended as runners up to AC Milan.

In 1966, he made his debut for the Dutch national team and played a total of 48 matches scoring 33 goals. In the 1974 World Cup, he scored 5 goals as the team ended as the runners up at the World Cup and he was named player of the tournament. The ‘Total Football’ played by the Dutch team was revolutionary and Cruyff was instrumental in the whole system.

In 1970, he helped Ajax win the Dutch league as well as the league cup and the following year he helped the club win the coveted European Cup. Cruyff scored a brace in the following year’s European Cup final against Italian club Inter Milan to help Ajax win the tournament. That final also marked the triumph of ‘Total Football’ as Cruyff completely dominated one of Europe’s most defensive teams.

He helped Ajax win 6 league titles during his 9 year stint at the club and in his last season, which ended in 1973, he rounded it off by helping the club win the third European Cup on the trot. Cruyff scored 250 goals across all competitions and made Ajax the best club in Europe. At the end of the season, he moved to Spanish club Barcelona, who paid a world record fee for his services.

He became one of the most important ever signings at Barcelona when he helped the club win the league title in his very first season that ended in 1974 and ended a fourteen year wait for the league titles at the club. He also orchestrated a 5-0 win against Real Madrid in Madrid to cement his place as one of Barcelona’s greatest players. During his five seasons at the club, he scored 48 league goals in 143 games.

He is regarded a great footballer and manager and touched many milestones throughout his career. However, his achievement is without doubt his managerial stint at Barcelona from 1988 to 1996 during which he completely transformed the club and created the basis of one of the most successful clubs in the world.

Johan Cruyff won the Ballon D’Or in 1971.

He won the Ballon D’Or in 1973 for the 2nd time and followed it up with his 3rd win in the following year.

He was named the player of the tournament in the FIFA World Cup 1974.