UKC

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35892775

Absolute legend in my eyes, one of my childhood heroes. RIP

youtube.com/watch?v=2GtwCfjI0Z8&

In reply to Denni:

Indeed. A very talented footballer.

In reply to Denni:

The first World Cup I remember is 78. I remember being really upset firstly that the Dutch got beaten and secondly because Cruyff didn't play.

As someone has already said, if it hadn't been for Cruyff, Messi and Iniesta and Xavi would have been rejected at Barcelona for being too little and underdeveloped.

In reply to Denni:

Football Royalty.

Such an elegant player.

One of All Time XI gone.

In reply to Denni:

One of the greatest ever....pure class and at 68 no age to pass away. That famous clip of the Cruyff turn where the defender is totally lost is such a moment in football!

In reply to Denni:


There's some cheeky stuff! And he gets fouled 3 or 4 times on the way to the goal quite often......

In reply to Denni:
I was a little too young to remember his heyday but looking at some of the honours he achieved as a player is something else. 3 euro cups and 8 league titles, total football indeed.
A small claim to fame I have is seeing him play, a friendly v Birmingham City when he played for LA Aztecs in 1979. My mum took me along at the tender age of 10 (me not my mum!) I can only vaguely remember it though, wished I had paid more attention.

In reply to Denni:

One of the very best. Miles ahead of any of today's 300 grand a week prima donnas in both skill and attitude. I'll never forget him running rings around the reigning World champions Brazil team in the 1974 World Cup. As an 8 year old kid at the time I fell in love with that Dutch team and the total football philosophy of Rinus Michels. To this day I remain an avid supporter of The Netherlands national team all thanks to Johan Cruyff and the class of 74.

In reply to Denni:

Sad. Apparently he had a funny turn.

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:


I know nothing about football or football players, but I've heard a couple of epitaphs of the radio about him, and of this 'turning' move he had which totally foxed anyone trying to get the ball off him.

Do I remember reading about a sports manufacturer designing a boot for kids with a spinning disc on the bottom so that they could mimic this move and literally spin around on their feet, but which had to be withdrawn because of a sudden rise in the number of kids going to A+E with snapped tib / fibs?

In reply to ThunderCat:



Yes those boots with 4 studs on a rotating ring certainly did come onto the market around the early to mid 70's. I remember them well. They never really caught on but I don't know whether or not this was due to kids getting injured in them.

In reply to Rylstone_Cowboy:


He was superb.. Miles ahead of Ronaldo?

Rose tinted again.

He just died aged 68 from cancer having been a heavy smoker through his career. Ronaldo's athleticism is exceptional. An incredibly gifted hard working athlete who really is wringing every last bit of talent out of himself. He turned himself from a skinny trickster into a fast powerful man mountain.

Cruyff was class, but I think we put foreign players on a pedestal. I don't think he was that far ahead of best, if he was at all.

Loved his attitude to the game though.

In reply to ThunderCat:



Best was doing that move a decade before Cruyff was..

In reply to Roadrunner5:


True and as a lifelong non smoker I can't condone that. Yet many of today's 300 grand a week "superstars" are also heavy smokers, Rooney for example.

In reply to Rylstone_Cowboy:

>Miles ahead of any of today's 300 grand a week prima donnas in both skill and attitude.

In attitude perhaps, but.. well... Lionel Messi is fairly skilful (although he probably on more than 300 grand)

In reply to Rylstone_Cowboy:


Is he?
I knew he had the odd puff when he was younger but nothing like Cruyff who was at least 40 a day at one point.

In reply to Donald82:

Yes fair enough, I didn't mean to compare him to exceptional players like Messi, I was thinking more of the likes of Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Fabregas, Sterling etc.

In reply to Rylstone_Cowboy:


But none of them smoke 40 a day? Rooney has the odd cigarette when pissed. I admit he's not a great athlete because of his diet and habits.. but Cruyff could have been better.

However the risks were less well known, still known, but less so. less well documented.

In reply to Roadrunner5:


Dislike this all you want then check you tube..

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Cruyff would have appreciated Harry Kanes goal tonight and Jamie Vardys. Quality, both of them.

In reply to Roadrunner5:


Agreed. They were only just starting to put health warnings on packets in the early 70's. Cruyff also stopped smoking altogether in 1991. You have to say he didn't deserve this after 25 years as a non smoker.

In reply to Denni: For those of my age group, growing up just after Best's heyday, Cruyff was our hero. We all wanted to be him. Reminded this week that he never went to Argentina in 1978 after he was warned about plausible kidnap threats towards his family. Also great memory from an ex player that there was a period when Dutch nationals could be anywhere in the world, like the vast and empty parts of the Sahara desert, and when locals appearing out of nowhere heard they were Dutch, the first comment they got was "Cruyff". Another sporting hero of mine away, but at 68, he had a full life. RIP Johan.

In reply to Denni:
At what point did he stop being exceptional. An amazing player and man. Interviews with him were something else

In reply to Roadrunner5:

And Jeffrey Daniel taught Michael Jackson how to moonwalk but no-one is humming A night to remember today.

Best was a drunk and a fool who, through circumstance, did not play international football at any significant level. Cruyff did and much more, obviously.

In reply to Rylstone_Cowboy:


I don't think anyone deserves it.. I don't think Best did. Addictions are an illness, just like many others.

In reply to Captain Solo:



I managed to get a ticket to watch ZZ in the European cup final.

He was another player who could make time stop. I've never seen a player so comfortable to receive anywhere on the pitch. Watching players of that ilk is so special.