Johan Cruijff

Johan Cruijff (b. 25 April 1947 in Amsterdam), Dutch football player and trainer/coach. Early in his career, his trainer Rinus Michels[?] developed the football philosphy known as Total Football, of which Cruijff was a silky exponent.

Cruijff played for (respectively) Ajax, FC Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs[?], Washington Diplomats[?], Levante[?], Feyenoord.

As Dutch international he played 48 matches, in which he scored 33 goals.

Johan Cruijff trained two football clubs after his active career as a player, Ajax and Barcelona.

As a player, Cruijff was known for his graceful play and his tactical insights. He has been named as one of the best football players of his day, alongside Franz Beckenbauer, and Pele.

His son, Jordi Cruijff[?] has played for teams such as FC Barcelona and Manchester United. Cruijff was his trainer at FC Barcelona.

Cruijff smoked twenty cigarettes a day, then had a heart bypass operation. During his career, Cruijff became a national phenomenon for his comments, which standed out in brilliant and pure logic. His form of speaking became known in the Netherlands as "Cruijffiaans". Examples:

"Italianen kunnen niet van ons winnen, maar we kunnen wel van ze verliezen." ("Italians can not win from us, but we can always lose from them")

"Zonder de bal kun je niet winnen" ("Without the ball, you cannot win")

"Snelheid wordt vaak verward met inzicht. Als ik als eerste ga lopen dan de rest, lijk ik sneller." ("Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running first, I look faster than the rest.")

"Voordat ik een fout maak, maak ik die fout niet." ("Before I make a mistake, I DO NOT make that mistake")

and his most famous saying: "Toeval is logisch" ("Chance is logical")