Johan Cruyff has died on a Good Thursday and part of my childhood has gone with him as he was the first footballer I admired when I was a child. According to my mother, she gave me as a present for my sixth birthday the F.C. Barcelona shirt with the "9" on its back because of my interest on the Dutch forward.
He was voted the best European soccer player of the twentieth century (and the second best worldplayer). He started his career with AJAX Amsterdam and led them to 4 European finals of which 3 were won (1971/1972/1973). In 1973 Cruyff joined Barcelona (for a the then record-fee of 6 million guilders), He became a very popular player.
With the Dutch National Team Cruyff became the inventor of Total Football in 1974. Even when they lost the final against the Germans, he was named the best player in the championship before moving to F.C. Barcelona. Before retiring he played soccer in the U.S.A. for the Washington Diplomats. He played 48 games for the Dutch National team, and scored 33 goals between 1966 and 1977.
Then, he started his career as a coach with his first team: Ayax. He coached them for a few years and won the European cup winners cup. Then, he followed his same way as a player and went to Barcelona to become the revolutionary coach of F.C. Barcelona. He gave the first European Champions League for the Catalonian team and four Spanish leagues.
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