Weekly I will discuss a famous player from past or present. This weeks player is: Johan Cruijff.

Johan Cruijff

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff often spelled Cruyff outside the Netherlands is a former Dutch football player and manager/coach. He was named European Footballer of the Year three times (1971, 1973, 1974) which is a record jointly held with Michel Platini and Marco van Basten. Cruyff was the most famous exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football, developed by Rinus Michels.

After his retirement from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later FC Barcelona; he remains an influential advisor to both clubs.

In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second, behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll.

On 2 December 1968 Cruyff married Danny Coster. Johan and Danny had 3 children: Chantal (16 November 1970), Susila (27 January 1972) and Jordi (9 February 1974). The family lives in Barcelona.

His son, Jordi, has played for teams such as FC Barcelona (while his father was manager), Manchester United and Alavés. Interestingly, the younger Cruyff sports “Jordi” on his shirt to distinguish himself from his famous father (this also reflects the common Spanish practice of referring to players by given names alone or by nicknames).

Coming next week………… Frank Lampard