Today, on March 24, 2016, one of the most famous and loved BN’ers (acronym for Bekende Nederlanders (well-known Dutch people) passed away. Johan Cruijff, also spelled as Cruyff in English, died fighting cancer at the age of 68 in Barcelona, Spain.

It might be that you have never heard of him, but any Dutch person has for sure. What is special about this man? Who was he?

1. The football player of the Netherlands

If you are into voetbal (football, not the American kind, the “normal” kind, where the ball is kicked with feet. Americans also call this “soccer”), you will probably know Cruijff for this mostly. He was recognized as one of the best voetballers (football players) in the world. Three times, he became best European voetballer of the year and in 1999, he was even chosen as the European voetballer van de eeuw (of the century), and a close second behind Pelé for the global voetballer van de eeuw.

He played successfully in different voetbalclubs (football clubs), in the Netherlands, Spain and the United States.

During his time at the Amsterdam-based club Ajax, he won the Europacup I (European Cup, since 1992 known as the UEFA Champions League) three times. In 1974, the Netherlands got very close in the Wereldkampioenschap (World Championship) to win the Wereldbeker (World Cup), but lost from West Germany. Cruijff was the team leader of the elftal (football team. Elftal means a “lot of eleven”, and specifically refers to a football team, as there are 11 players in a football team) in that tournament.

After two decades, Cruijf decided to quit his successful career as a player to become a voetbaltrainer (football coach) in 1985. Without having the required diplomas, he was accepted as trainer at his former club Ajax in Amsterdam, and under his lead, the elftal won two KNVB Bekers (KNVB (= Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (Royal Dutch Football Association)) Cups) and even the Europacup II (UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup), which was a European contest consisting of the teams that won the national cups. So, in a way, under Cruijf, Ajax was the best team of Europe.

His club Ajax made a wonderful video showing his achievements – and it is a great listening lesson!

https://youtu.be/kJoD6op8DfA

After three years, Cruijf switched to train at FC Barcelona, and formed a Dream Team, that won a lot. However, all good things come to an end, and when the players could not keep up with the high expectations anymore, the success ended, and Cruijff was fired in 1996. Of course, he stayed involved in football all his life, but after this he distanced himself a bit and focused on other things.

He came back as a trainer though, from 2009 to 2013 as a trainer for Catalonia.

After being fired, Cruijff focused more on becoming a weldoener (benefactor). No wonder, with such fame and millions at his disposal! His goodwill was targeted mainly at sport (sports) and jeugd (youth). More about this below!

2. Bijnamen (nicknames)

Cruijff also got some nicknames during his legendary career, some of which I discuss here!

▪ Nummer 14

The first time that Cruijff wore nummer veertien (number fourteen) was on October 30, 1970. After this match, he was injured and missed an entire season. When he came back in 1971, during the first match, he was supposed to wear number 9. But that did not happen: this number went to another player. He ended up with number 14 again. Ever since, nummer 14 became his lucky rugnummer (shirt number) – and his nickname.

▪El Salvador (De Verlosser)

When Cruijff was transferred to FC Barcelona in 1973, the club had a turning point. After thirteen years, Real Madrid was beaten. In 1973, Barcelona wins 5-0 against Real in the Madrid stadium Camp Nou. This was not only a sportive victory, but also a political one. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, which tried to separate itself from Spain and General Franco. This victory also signified this. Cruijff was seen as El Salvador, de verlosser, the Savior of FC Barcelona. He made it happen!

▪ El Flaco (De Magere)

Not so much known as El Salvador in Spain, but more so in the Netherlands, the Spanish called Cruijff El Flaco, de magere, the skinny one. It is hard to find a source that tells you why, but I assume this is because he is skinny.

4. After his career

After his career as a football player, Cruijff began a number of initiatives. The Johan Cruyff College, University and Institute offers education in sport management, marketing, coaching, etc.

The Johan Cruyff Foundation is a non-profit that supports sport projects for (disabled) children and youth. It also builds so-called Cruyff Courts, modern football pitches.

Even though he was a professional sportsman that was generally observing a healthy diet, he could not resist smoking. He smoked a lot, and in 1991, that almost became fatal when he got heart complaints and bypasses. The doctors told him to stop smoking, which led him to collaborate in an anti-smoking campaign. As a coach at Barcelona, he was then seen a lot with lollies instead of a cigarette.

However, it seems that the damage was already done. In October 2015, Cruijff got lung cancer. And just a few months later, today, he died from this disease. A great man has left us, that has moved a lot in his life.

5. Quotes and joke

Finally, to end on a lighter note, Cruijff is also known for many great things he said, and he was subject of some funny jokes! In the interview above, you can hear how he sharply analyses and criticizes the Dutch team.

He says: “Ieder nadeel heb zijn voordeel” (every disadvantage has its advantage), one of his most famous quotes, along with “Als wij de bal hebben kunnen zij niet scoren” (if we have the bal they cannot score) and “Voordat ik een fout maak, maak ik die fout niet” (before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake).

And I still have a joke for you, since often, Cruijff was compared to a God:

Ik haat ‘t als mensen Cruijff met god vergelijken! Ik bedoel, hij is goed, maar hij is geen Cruijff.

I hate it when people compare Cruijff with god! I mean, he is good, but he is no Cruijff.