JOHAN CRUYFF

JOHAN CRUYFF
BORN: APR. 25, 1947
COUNTRY: Holland
WORLD CUP APPEARANCES: 7 matches in 1 tournament ('74)
CLUBS: Ajax, Barcelona, Los Angles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, Ajax, Feyernood
CAREER INTERNATIONAL GOALS: 33 in 48 games
1974 World Cup - West Germany
Cruyff gave a performance in his World Cup debut against Uruguay that the spectators could hardly forget. Accelarating and turning away from opponents, Cruyff created havoc in the South American defence.
Holland had a goalless draw against Sweden. But in the next game, Cruyff gave his greatest performance in the World Cup.Cruyff continued his breath-taking form in the quarter-final against Argentina, scoring two superb goals, one of them after dancing beautifully past Argentine goalkeeper Carnevali. And just like in the previous game, he provided another deadly cross for Rep to score the final goal of the 4-0 victory. Holland beat East Germany easily and met Brazil in the match which decides who will go to the Final. However, West Germany's resilience brought them two goals. And with Cruyff distracted by arguments with the referee (he also received a yellow card for that), Holland failed to come back in the second half and lost the World Cup to Germany.