Johan Cruijff
Johan Cruijff (born April 25, 1947 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch football trainer/coach and former star player. Early in his career, he was a silky exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football, developed by his trainer Rinus Michels.
Cruijff played successively for Ajax, FC Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante Union Deportiva and Feyenoord. 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 Pelé. As a 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.
Cruijff smoked twenty cigarettes a day, then had a heart bypass operation.
In November 2003 Cruijff invoked legal procedings against the publisher Tirion Uitgevers, over its photo book Johan Cruijff de Ajacied, which used photographs by Guus de Jong. Cruijff was working on another book, also using De Jong's photographs, and claimed unsuccessfully that Tirion's book violated his trademark and portrait rights.
His son, Jordi Cruijff has played for teams such as FC Barcelona and Manchester United. Cruijff was his trainer at FC Barcelona.
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:
- "Italians can not win over us, but we can certainly lose to them" ("Italianen kunnen niet van ons winnen, maar we kunnen wel van ze verliezen.")
- "Without the ball, you can't win" ("Zonder de bal kun je niet winnen.")
- "Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running before the rest, I seem faster." ("Snelheid wordt vaak verward met inzicht. Als ik als eerste ga lopen dan de rest, lijk ik sneller.")
- "Before I make a mistake, I DO NOT make that mistake" ("Voordat ik een fout maak, maak ik die fout niet.")
- "Every disadvantage has its advantage" ("Elk nadeel heeft z'n voordeel.")
- and his most famous saying: "Chance is logical" ("Toeval is logisch.")
