Cruyff's Career Facts
1947 Born on April 25 in Amsterdam.
1959 Enrolled by his mother in the Ajax youth section .
1963 Signed his first contract with Ajax at 16. Scored on his first
team debut.
1966 Made his debut for the Netherlands in a 2-2 draw against Hungary,
scored the last minute equalizer.
1969 Made his first European Cup final appearence with Ajax, but
lost to Milan 1-4.
1971 Won the first of three European Cup with Ajax. Also won the
first of three European
Footballer of the year.
1973 Transferred to Barcelona of Spain for a record £ 922,000.
1974 His first and only World Cup appearence in West Germany. Netherlands
lost 1-2 in the final.
1978 Retired from the national team after helping them qualified
for the World Cup in Argentina. Retired from Barcelona and
European football.
1979 Return to football but played in the US. First with Los Angeles
Aztecs then Washington Diplomats.
1981 Returned to Europe, played for Levante of Spain briefly. Later
returned to Ajax for a couple of years then finished his playing
days with Feyenoord.
1984 Returned to Ajax as "technical director".
1987 After guiding Ajax to the European Cup-Winners' Cup victory,
he returned to Barcelona as coach.
1992 Barcelona finally won the European Cup under Cruyff.
1994 Led Barcelona to their fourth successive Spanish championship.
1996 After lengthy dispute with Barcelona's president, Cruyff was
fired.
1997 Cruyff celebrated his 50th birthday. On the same year, Ajax
opened the Ajax football museum where Cruyff do the honour
in the opening ceremony.
Honours
As player:
League
Championship Ajax: 1966, 67, 68, 70, 72, 73, 82, 83.
Barcelona: 1974. Feyenoord: 1984.
Domestic
Cups Ajax: 1967, 70, 71, 72, 83. Barcelona: 1978. Feyenoord:
1984.
European
Cup Ajax: 1971, 72, 73.
European
Super Cup Ajax: 1973.
World
Club Championship Ajax: 1972.
European
Footballer of the Year 1971, 73, 74.
Netherlands
Sports Personality of the Year 1974.
Best
European Footballer of the century 1999.
As Coach:
League
Championship Barcelona: 1991, 92, 93, 94.
Domestic
Cups Ajax: 1986, 87. Barcelona: 1990.
European
Cup Barcelona: 1992.
Cup-winners'
Cup Ajax: 1987. Barcelona: 1989.
European
Super Cup Barcelona: 1993.
Altogether
Cruyff made 656 league appearences and scored 370 goals.
He represented the Netherlands from 1966-78, made 48 appearences,
scored 33 goals.
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