"Cancer? I was 2-0 ahead at the end of the first half. ”
But nothing stopped the death from coming three years ago. On March 24, 2016, Santa Cruyff died at the age of 68.
In the early 1970s, a slender, flamboyant footballer walked into the heart of world football, winning the European Champions League with Ajax, and they set off a tactical revolution in world football.
Ajax beat Panathinaikos, Inter Milan and Juventus in succession to achieve a three-game Champions League triumph. The commanders of the "all-attack, all-defensive era" are Cruyff on the pitch and Michels on the sidelines.
In the ideal country of football, Cruyff, full attack, orange storms and other classic elements could have become the 1974 World Cup champion.
In Munich, Cruyff created a penalty in the opening minute and Neskens hit the penalty to make it 1-0. However, in the end, the ending was Blakener and Gad Müller scored consecutive goals, and the Netherlands was reversed 1-2. Since then, Cruyff has not played in the World Cup.
At the 1978 World Cup, the Netherlands once again fell at the feet of the hosts in the final. If Cruyff had been this time, would it have been the Netherlands that would have won? But suppose, it is always the helplessness of the miserable.
After retiring, Cruyff became a coach and began another legendary story. Before he returned to Camp Nou in 1988, it was not yet a prestigious European temple of football. But what he left behind was Barca's first Champions League trophy in history, La Masia's football base, the "tiki-taka" fantastic play, and a proud disciple for life.
"Cruyff painted frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, which the subsequent Barca managers only needed to maintain and repair." Today, Guardiola is inheriting and carrying forward the essence of Cruyff football.
He turned and left, and the 14th had been dead for three years. He turned away, the orange storm years still shining in the memory. He turned away, leaving behind a philosophy of football that had been passed down from generation to generation.