Johann Cruyff, Star of "Clockwork Orange" Dies

Johann Cruyff, the face of Dutch soccer and the "total football" style of its national team in the 1970s, died of cancer in Barcelona yesterday.  He was 68.  His passing was announced on his website.  The cause was cancer.


The English journalist David Miller labeled him “Pythagoras in boots” for his ability to see open space and advantageous angles on a field. David Winner, in his book on Dutch soccer, “Brilliant Orange,” compared Cruyff’s play to the perfection and organization of a Vermeer painting.

The former England striker Gary Lineker, who played for Cruyff at Barcelona, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “Football has lost a man who did more to make the beautiful game beautiful than anyone in history.”

According to the  Times, Cruyff was a heavy smoker until he had heart problems in the 1990s.

Cruyff joined Ajax as a 10-year old and made his debut with the first team in 1964 at age 17.  A year later the legendary coach Rinus Michels arrived and Ajax became one of the best sides in the world, winning three straight European Cups beginning in 1971.  The national team coached by Michels became known as "Clockwork Orange" for the color of its jerseys and its total football style.  It was said that while some teams played a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2 formation, the Netherlands played a 10.

Before hanging up his boots for good at age 37, Cruyff played in two World Cup Finals, was named European Player of the Year in 1971, 1973 and 1974, won nine Dutch League championships one in Spain and played for Barcelona, two U.S. teams in the old NASL, Levante and Spain and finally with Ajax rival Feyenoord in Rotterdam.  In his last year Feyenoord doubled by winning the league and the cup.  After retiring as a player Cruyff coached Ajax and Barcelona.