Johan Cruyff, Ajax's cleaning son became a world soccer legend

JOHAN Cruyff is a very fragrant figure in the world of football. However, not everyone knows the family history of Dutch and world football legends. Cruyff was born with the full name Hendrik Johannes Cruyff on April 25, 1947 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Cruyff is the second heart of Hermanus Cornelis Cruyff and Petronella Bernarda Draaijer. Cruyff has an older brother named Henny Cruyff. Both parents from Cruyff have a shop to meet their daily needs. However, Cruyff's family life changed when his father, Herman, died in 1957 due to a heart attack.


Cruyff, 10 years old at that time, had experienced economic hardship and the mother had to work as a doorman at Ajax Amsterdam in addition to managing a shop. However, Petronella cannot handle two jobs at once and hence chooses to focus on the role of the janitor. Shortly thereafter, Petronella married her second husband, Henk Angel.

This new job not only brings blessings to Petronella but also to Cruyff. The talent of the child, who since childhood was a football lover, finally began to see the talent of scouting Ajax. Cruyff, Faas Wilkes, who idolized the top Dutch striker at the time, also took the opportunity to join Ajax.

Ajax talent recruiters finally recruited Cruyff in 1959 and his life changed dramatically. As a child, Cruyff went to school in the morning, then continued to practice and help with mother's work. Although his childhood was difficult since his father left him, this experience made Cruyff a great character.

Cruyff's hard work to become a great soccer player has been crowned with a glorious professional career. Cruyff collected 24 trophies, including 18 in Ajax uniforms. The name Cruyff also became a legend at Ajax with this remarkable record.

Besides Ajax, Cruyff also became a legend for Barcelona because of the contribution of two trophies to the Camp Nou public. However, Cruyff is more legendary when he acts as a tactician at Barcelona because he can give 11 trophies.

Since he sod, Cruyff is known as a heavy smoker. Cruyff's bad habits paid off in lung cancer, which ended world football legend on March 24, 2016 at the age of 68.

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