Johan Cruyff is probably not the best player of all time, but it is difficult to identify a more influential figure in the history of the game. A deep thinker, the former Ajax, Barcelona and Netherlands star helped to popularise Total Football at both club and international level, before further spreading his ideas as a coach. As ex-Blaugrana midfielder and boss Pep Guardiola once said of his ex-manager and former employers, "Johan Cruyff painted the chapel and Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it.”
Prior to all that the Dutchman was a fabulous footballer, helping Ajax to six Eredivisie titles and three European Cups between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, as well as leading his country to the World Cup final in 1974. That Holland did not emerge victorious in West Germany, losing 2-1 to the hosts in the showpiece event in Munich, did not prevent them from going down in the history books as one of the competition’s greatest ever sides.
That tournament also featured the moment for which Cruyff is best remembered today. Unlike many similar examples – Diego Maradona’s stunning solo effort against England, for example – the incident in question did not result in, either directly or indirectly, a goal. It did not even produce a clear-cut chance for his team, yet with a single flick of his right foot Cruyff demonstrated his technical skill, tactical intelligence and all-round genius to a captivated audience both inside the Westfalenstadion and far, far beyond it.
A brace from Johnny Rep had given the Netherlands a 2-0 triumph over Uruguay in their opening encounter in 1974, which meant victory over Sweden would almost certainly secure their passage to the knockout phase with a game to spare. In the 23rd minute, with the scores still deadlocked at 0-0, Cruyff received a crossfield pass on the left flank; it is rarely mentioned in recounts of the episode, but the Dutch No.14 took the ball down brilliantly with his left instep, before dragging it away from Swedish defender Jan Olsson to ensure he remained in full control of the situation.
Then comes the piece de resistance. Shaping to deliver a cross into the penalty area or a pass to a team-mate, Cruyff instead hooks the ball behind his standing leg with the inside of his right foot, sending poor Olsson sprawling (he almost falls over as he tries to regain his footing and catch up with his adversary, who had long since gone by this stage).
It was, of course, a terrific example of Cruyff’s technical ability, but also of his awareness and deep understanding of the game; this, remember, was a man who insisted that “you play football with your head, and your legs are there to help you”. The Netherlands star knew exactly how to create a yard of space in what had looked like a tricky situation just seconds previously, while at all times taking into account the respective positions of himself, the ball and his opponent.
“After the game I thanked him for the match and said congratulations. Even though it was 0-0, it was right to say congratulations,” Olsson told the Press Association after Cruyff passed away in March last year.
“My team-mates after the game, we looked at each other, they started to laugh and I do the same. I laughed then and I laugh now. It was very funny. He was a world-class player. I do my best but I was not a world-class player.
“The players in my team, they all laugh because they know me – we laughed together in the changing room because everyone saw what a player he was. What more could we do?”
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