Titel: Cruyff casts such a majestic s
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Blog Entry: Byline: Graham Hunter THERE is a good reason why this evening's match is becoming colloquially known as the Johan Cruyff World Cup Final. RC Lens So significant has the great Dutchman's influence been on modern football that both of tonight's finalists owe a massive amount of their footballing philosophy to either Cruyff or the main man who coached him to greatness, Rinus Michels. Holland, of course, feel cursed by the fact that their greatest ever team tripped at the final hurdle back in 1974, when a Cruyffinspired squad played brilliant football before being manacled and mugged by West Germany. Only yesterday Cruyff explained: 'All of Holland certainly wanted Germany to beat Spain in the semifinal this week -- partly to have a chance of revenge for the 1974 final but also because Spain is certainly the best side in the world right now.' However, Cruyff the player and Cruyff the coach also indelibly marked the development and playing style of Ajax and Holland. Ten of the current Dutch squad have come through the have come through the Ajax books and it is that fact which makes them such close cousins of the Spanish playing style. When Cruyff arrived at the Nou Camp as a coach in 1988, he did more than educate a first team which contained current Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. He insisted the entire footballing system be focused upon technique, control, vision, passing, movement and attack. That meant eight and nine-year-olds were already learning the exact systems and techniques which would serve them in the Barcelona first team -- and, indeed, in this current Spain side. The Nou Camp philosophy has gradually grown, made Barcelona dominant and totally infused itself into this Spain team. If you exclude the recently signed David Villa, then six Barcelona players started in the victorious semi-final when, as coach Vicente del Bosque contends that: 'We made Germany look small.' The Cruyff/Barcelona brand of football is now totally dominant in the way Spain play. 'When Cruyff came to Barcelona, even as a player but mainly as a coach, he changed the whole idea of football there,' explained Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique. 'He imbued a philosophy about how football should be trained, and played and now many, many players have come through his youth system. 'They are playing both in the Barcelona first team and the Spanish national team, too. So the Cruyff influence and philosophy has a huge amount to do with Spain being in this final. 'Everything we do is based around the ball and developing a love for the ball,' continued Pique. 'Where the ball is at any given time in a game dictates where you must be and what watches-d you must do next. You are taught to pass well, to dribble, to retain the ball at all costs. In other places, I know that you work more on the physical side whereas it is all about developing technique. 'So when you get to 19 or 20 years old and the physical development catches up, that is when you notice how much work you have put in on technical excellence.' Now Cruyff, who tipped Spain to win the final even the day after their shock opening-game defeat to Switzerland, seems not to care one jot whether his country of birth finally gets the monkey off their back by finally winning this trophy. Instead of praying for a Dutch victory, Cruyff actively wants Spain to wi Other articles: http://www.straightmusclemasters.com/blog/view/id_403/title_didyouknow/ http://www.hhyibiao.cn/bbs/Blog.asp?BlogUserName=goodteacher&menu=ShowBlog&BlogID=1378
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