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Johan Cruijff - dubbed "Pythagoras in boots" for the complexity
and precision of his angled passes
Cruyff was born in Amsterdam 25 Apr in 1947 close to the Ajax
ground. His mother worked as a cleaner at the club and it was she
who persuaded the coaches to admit her son to their youth
development system at the age of 12.
Cruijff lifted Ajax to heights the club had never been at before. His
greatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-
mates' positions as an attack unfolded.
Six Dutch league championships, four domestic cup titles and then
three straight European Cup triumphs 1971-73 plus a European
Super Cup and World Club Cup title on top of that as well. Johan
Cruijff had taken over the torch from Pele as being the greatest
player in the World.
"In my early days, a goal against us was shrugged off. Nobody liked
conceding a goal, but once the ball had gone into the net it was accepted as
'one of those things' and everybody in the team would concentrate on trying to
get the goal back.
"But once the maximum wage had been lifted and win bonuses became all-
important, it was suddenly considered a crime to concede a goal."
Perhaps somewhere in those words of Gordon Banks, goalkeeper supreme,
is the difference between football as a sport and football as a hard-nosed
business.
Save of the century: England goalkeeper Gordon Banks
makes a remarkable save from Pele during the 1970
World Cup.
Save of the century: England goalkeeper Gordon Banks
makes a remarkable save from Pele during the 1970
World Cup.