Anand Datla
March 24, 2016: A wizard walked into the sunset earlier today. The world of football and sports-lovers across the world bid adieu to the much loved Johan Cruyff. The Dutch legend is remembered for the mystifying beauty he created as a total footballer in the world cup of 1974. Cruyff also proved to be a brilliant mentor at Barcelona where he won as many as 11 trophies. The great footballer lost his battle with cancer, breathing his last at the age of 68. Cruyff was an avid golfer, making regular appearances at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championships.
Cruyff had a handicap of 11 and rubbed shoulders with some of the best golfers at courses across Spain and Europe. He was a member of EL Montanya where he regularly played golf.
In fact Cruyff was so fond of golf that he was reported to carry a bag of golf clubs wherever he travelled even as he was busy coaching at Ajax and Barcelona.
He received the prestigious Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in May 2005 for his immense accomplishments as a footballer and coach. He also ran the Johan Cruyff Foundation which helped athletes deal with their after careers.
There is this beautifully warm video of Cruyff promoting the Open de Espana with Sergio Garcia and Rafael Nadal
He had an endearing simplicity to his thoughts. “Soccer is simple,” informed Cruyff in another of his deeply philosophical moments, “but it is difficult to play simple.”
Tributes started to pour over the internet soon as the news broke that the great footballer had lost his battle with cancer. Johan Cruyff was trending on twitter golbally and even in cricket mad India, underlining his universal appeal.
Widely considered the godfather of “Total Football,” Cruyff was clearly one of the most influential footballers of the past century. He reinvented the modern game of football and his death serves to remind us all about the fact that our species is yet to invent a means to truly defeat the scourge of cancer.
- In this article
- Pros
- anand datla
- Johan Cruyff
