Cruyff made football more beautiful

In his heyday in the early 1970s, Cruyff, slender, quick-witted and outrageously gifted, helped a generation of football fans across the world see the game in a different light. Unquestionably the best player in the world in that period, he was voted three times winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or so that he is now often mentioned alongside the pair widely considered the finest to have played the game, Pele and Diego Maradona. Brazilian Pele said on Thursday: “Johan Cruyff was a great player and coach. He leaves a very important legacy for our family of football. We have lost a great man.” Maradona said: “We will never forget you, mate” while another Argentine Lionel Messi, the world’s best current player, added: “Another legend has left us today.” Cruyff, who had announced last October that he was suffering from lung cancer, had said only last month that he was “2-0 up in the first half” of his battle against the disease. Poignantly, that turned out to be one of the last public statements made by the sage whose observations on the modern game were eagerly courted in global football, with his weekly column for De Telegraaf newspaper a must-read until the end. Cruyff died surrounded by his friends and family at his home in Barcelona, according to his official website.

The news prompted eulogies from his home country with Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, saying: “The whole world knew him and, through him, the world knew the Netherlands.” “I had the privilege of having him as a coach when I played at Barcelona. He was, without doubt the greatest coach I had, his teachings were be eternally with me. He knew better than anyone how to take advantage of what every member of the team did best and he knew my skill was scoring goals,”  said Brazilian striker Romario. “Sad to hear that Johan Cruyff has died. Football has lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history,”  said Gary Lineker. England’s 1996 World Cup winner Bobby Charlton said Cruyff was one of those great footballers who made you excited whenever he got the ball and began to play. “There was always expectation in the crowd when Johan was on the pitch. There wasn’t a negative thought in his head. He loved the game, he loved sport and he loved life. He was one of the greatest footballers I have ever seen, you would put him in the same class as Pele, Di Stefano and Maradona.,” said Charlton.