He changed football and
changed the world, this man of modest descent.
Unlike Ronaldo, Messi, Maradona
and Pelé, he was not only a brilliant player, but he had the intelligence and
courage to dynamize team play and make it successful. Billions of people in the
world watched his Dutch Clockwork Orange team in amazement and admiration.
Like Bob Dylan and John
Lennon, he showed that old routines in thinking and action could be overcome.
He created relief and hope. He inspired people to improve their lives by taking
courage and overcome obstacles in themselves and society.
This inspiration did not
only spread out in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, but also in Catalonia where
emancipation had been oppressed by the Franco regime and winning remained
beyond dreams for long. A Barcelona friend asked him once: ‘How do you manage
to win so often?’ He said: ’Have no fear.’
He taught the Catalonians
and billions in the world not to be intimidated by authorities. He had no
patience with sterile hierarchies in society. He undermined self-paralyzing
comfort zones. He was both a child and a protagonist of the 1960s.
His parents spoke the
working class Dutch that middle and upper class people saw as ridiculous. But
he did not mind and went on talking like his family did. He had a deep loyalty
to his parents, as he had to his wife and children. Perhaps it was the foundation
of his self-confidence.
His name is Johan Cruyff. He was born in 1947 and died in April 2016.
Johan to the left, with his father and elder brother
Johan to the right, with his mother and wife Danny
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten