Listening Practice Report: From the archives – Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff

March the 24th 2016 saw the passing of one of the greatest footballers ever - Johan Cruyff. To remember this great player, this week's listening practice report is an adapted report from our archives. The post was originally published on May 1, 2011 as part of our World Cup Stars series. You can find explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) at the end of the post. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the file below - you can also subscribe and listen to all our football-language podcasts - there are hundreds of them!

There is a transcript for this podcast which may help you to improve your language skills by reading as you listen, or if you are a teacher of English you can use the transcript to make different kinds of activities for your learners. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments then please email us at: [email protected].



https://media.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/content.blubrry.com/footballlanguage/main_cruyff_260316.mp3



This week (March the 24th 2016), Johan Cruyff passed away. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015 but died peacefully with his family next to him. As recently as last week, he was tweeting his thoughts on Dutch football, and his passing will not diminish his lasting influence on the game. This influence is summed up in some of the following quotes:



Pep Guardiola, a player for Cruyff at Barcelona, said Cruyff "painted the chapel and Barcelona coaches since have merely restored or improved it". England player and World Cup winner Bobby Charlton said, Cruyff was "one of those great, great footballers that made you excited whenever he got the ball". And Argentine international and World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardiles tweeted, "Johan Cruyff: A revolutionary player. Best ever Dutch player. The talisman of one of the best teams ever: Holland 74. Total football."



Here is our 2011 report on one of the great World Cup stars and all time great footballers.



Cruyff's career can be divided into three broad periods: playing for Ajax, for Barcelona, and then his time as a coach.



http://gty.im/649792356

Ajax

First at Ajax. Cruyff joined the Amsterdam team as a youth player of ten-years old. The Ajax team of the late sixties and early seventies introduced the style of play known as Total Football, where players positions were fluid and interchangeable, and the focus was on quick passing, movement and attack. Cruyff was perfect for this style of football, as he could turn on a sixpence, read the game beautifully and seemed to have the ball glued to his feet. With Ajax Cruyff, wearing the number 14 - it was rare at the time for any first team player to not wear a number from 1~11 at that time - won just about everything there was to win - but the three European Cups in succession in '71, '72, and '73 stand out, as well as the treble of '72 (League, domestic cup, and European Cup).

Barcelona

Such a player inevitably drew the interest of other big clubs around Europe and at the end of 1973, he moved to Barcelona where he spent five seasons. In his first year at the Spanish giants he was also part of the Dutch team which dazzled the world in t...