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A tragedy of the history of the World Cup is Johan Cruyff's participation in just one finals tournament. A visionary thinker, Cruyff's impact on Dutch football is such that he is credited with spearheading (possibly even inventing) the style of 'Total Football' that saw him win a host of honours in the late 60s and early 70s, but his appearance in what has been termed 'The Lost Final' in 1974 was, sadly, his single appearance at football's showpiece event.
GettyImagesThe great Ajax side of 1973, complete with Johan Cruyff (bottom row, second from right)
As the model for an entire generation, Cruyff's artistry led the way for an entirely new breed of footballer and changed the philosophy of the game from its very root. His career was never one to follow an established path - as he showed with his attitude to sponsors, fellow team-mates and authority over the years - but in the collective spirit of the Dutch system, he provided the injection of individualism that it needed to succeed.
As a youngster, Cruyff was brought through the youth ranks at Ajax Amsterdam and made his debut for the club at the age of 17. He immediately began directing traffic. A skinny kid, with incredible stamina, Cruyff's understanding of space (even at that early stage) was apparent. It has been the subject of many books, but the movement, speed and grace with which the midfielder moved the ball around was something to behold and his creative talent was at the heart of all that was good about Ajax.
In helping change the very essence of the game, Cruyff accumulated a host of personal honours, chief among them his eight Eredivisie titles, three back-to-back European Cups from 1971-73 and three European Player of the Season trophies in four seasons from 1971-74. He invented the 'Cruyff Turn' - a move which confused the most accomplished of defenders - and then forged a successful career as a manager with both Ajax and Barcelona before eventually retiring from the game completely in 1996.
The one glaring omission from Cruyff's CV is on the international stage. That most likely still gives the great man nightmares to this day.
Having burst onto the scene in 1964 with his club, Holland's failure to qualify for the 1966 World Cup in England ensured that Cruyff would not make his international bow until after the tournament had finished. He made his debut against Hungary, and was sent off in only his second game for his country against Czechoslovakia, but qualifying defeats to Poland and Bulgaria in 1970, meant that the Dutch would have to wait for a further four years for their chance to unleash him at a World Cup.
Up until 1970, Holland's international record was not far away from that of Poland in terms of appearances at major tournaments (their last being in 1938). However, by the time 1974 rolled around, the impact of Cryuff and Rinus Michels in bringing 'Total Football' to the world had made the Dutch one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
With a host of players from his days at Ajax, including Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol and Johnny Rep at his disposal, Holland's new coach Michels made the changes at international level that he had successfully managed domestically and it brought immediate success. Although they netted nine against Norway and eight against Iceland, to showcase their skills in the qualifiers, the Dutch still needed a lucky break to get them to the tournament as Belgium's Jan Verheyen had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside in the dying seconds of their final game which would have seen Michels' side forced to miss out once again. However, luck was on their side and Cruyff (who had left Ajax to join Michels at Barcelona in 1973) was the focal point as the side headed to West Germany.
Two weeks before the tournament, the Dutch lost 2-0 to a Second Division German side, but in their final friendly they hammered Argentina 4-1 in a friendly to restore confidence. The opening game of the tournament provided signs that Cruyff 's mission to ingrain his attacking instincts would serve his country well and, up against the ultra-defensive Uruguayans, they won 2-0 (although it could have easily have been six).
The side bounced back from a disappointing 0-0 draw with Sweden in the next game to demolish Bulgaria 4-1 and progress to the next round, with Cruyff coming into his own in a group that featured Brazil, Argentina and East Germany. Scoring twice against Argentina in a 4-0 win, the midfielder baffled his opponents to such an extent that they were forced to resort to flagrant fouling to keep the score respectable. They simply could not handle the fluid attacking movements of the Dutch.
In the final group game, up against a tough, abrasive Brazil side virtually unrecognisable from the 1970 World Cup vintage of Pele and Tostao, Cruyff once again proved the difference as he sealed a 2-0 win after the Dutch had, uncharacteristically, been dominated in the opening exchanges. He would lead Holland into their first major final to face European champions West Germany and many assumed that, thanks to their attacking style, he would end the tournament with the trophy.
However, despite the fact that the Germans could consider themselves lucky to be in the final after a particularly poor run that saw them booed by their own fans, the side led by talismanic defender Franz Beckebauer walked away with the prize having turned around a 1-0 deficit.
On the day of the match, German tabloid Bild Zeitung had run a headline of 'Cruyff, Sekt, nackte Mädchen und ein kühles Bad' (Cruyff, champagne, naked girls and a cool bath) which maintained that the Dutch side had partied into the early hours with some unnamed German girls prior to the Brazil match. Michels accused the German press of mind games and no pictures were ever printed of the alleged 'party,' but the result was that it disrupted Holland's preparations. Indeed, according to writer Auke Kok, Cruyff spent hours on the phone the day before the final attempting to convince his wife, Danny, that nothing had happened.
Despite the 2-1 defeat, the 'Lost Final' (as it is described in Holland) can be considered one of the best and also one of the worst moments of Cruyff's career. Having maintained that: ''There is no better medal than being acclaimed for your style,'' the opening passing movements - in which the Dutch passed the ball for over a minute before Cruyff took control, running at the German defence and beating three men before winning a penalty - would have filled the master with great joy. His vision had come true; the move was the zenith of 'Total Football' on the international stage and Cruyff was at its helm.
But it could not last. Instead of going for the jugular, the claims of arrogance that had followed 'Total Football's' evolution came to the fore as Holland passed the ball around, showing their technical superiority, but failing to kill off their opponents. Cruyff and Rep combined to miss a chance to kill off the game and, after a penalty scored by Paul Breitner, the Germans took control thanks to some effective man-marking from Berti Vogts in the midfield - eventually holding firm from the 43rd minute after Gerd Muller struck the winning goal.
For Cruyff it would be his last major final on the international scene. The dream of lifting the World Cup by playing the most exciting brand of football ever played had died, but by his own standards it had been a success in bringing the style of 'Total Football' to a global audience.
He would miss the 1978 event, despite helping the side to qualify, after he chose to retire from international football at the age of 30. Initially, the reasons given for his decision surrounded his political stance over the military dictatorship that was in power in Argentina, however, it emerged in 2008 that he and his family were the subject of a kidnap attempt in Barcelona a year before the tournament and he stated: "To play a World Cup you have to be 200%, there are moments when there are other values in life.''
For a man associated with some of the best and most ambiguous quotes in the history of the game, it was a tame end to his international ambitions. Domestically, after a relatively sparse spell with Barcelona he returned to Ajax to win the league again in 1982 and 83 and would go on to forge a successful managerial career at both clubs, before stepping out of the spotlight.
Cruyff's international exploits may have only seen him play in a single World Cup, and accrue just 48 appearances for his country (albeit scoring 33 goals in the process), but his career will be remembered for his impact on the sport as a whole. His insight, vision and trailblazing approach to ensuring that attacking football remained an integral part of the game mark him out as one of the greats; a true Dutch master.
source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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