A look at how Dutch soccer great Cruyff changed football

FILE - This is a July 7, 1974 file photo of Dutch forward Johan Cruyff, left, runs past German defender Paul Breitner, sitting on the pitch during the final of the Soccer World Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany. Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff, who revolutionized the game with the concept of 'Total Football,' died Thursday March 24, 2016. He was 68. (AP Photo) FILE - This is a July 7, 1974 file photo of Dutch forward Johan Cruyff, left, runs past German defender Paul Breitner, sitting on the pitch during the final of the Soccer World Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany. Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff, who revolutionized the game with the concept of 'Total Football,' died Thursday March 24, 2016. He was 68. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press March 24, 2016 4 min read

PARIS (AP) – Johan Cruyff, who has died at the age of 68, was a visionary, one whose influence on football left a legacy that endures. Here is a look at how Cruyff achieved his huge status within the game.

LASTING LEGACY

Cruyff was credited with helping to create “Total Football,” a seamless concept featuring a mesmerizing combination of both exerting pressure by harrying the opposition and leaving opponents chasing shadows once in possession. To achieve it, players had to be technically superb, tactically astute, and quick-thinking enough to swap positions before startled opponents reacted. These footballing principles would form the core of the famed Ajax academy. Scores of players coming through the ranks at the Amsterdam-based club next to where Cruyff grew up – Marco van Basten, Patrick Kluivert, Dennis Bergkamp included – benefited from the legacy. But his ideas reached so far that even goalkeepers, such as Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kevin Trapp, are valued for their excellent passing ability as ball-playing sweepers. You can imagine how Cruyff would relish telling them to launch attacks from the back.

SIGNATURE MOVES

Johan Cruyff did not invent outrageous skill: Others did mercurial tricks before him. But one magical moment from the fleet-footed Dutchman at the 1974 World Cup empowered European footballers to believe that signature moves were not a Brazilian copyright. It was triggered by the “Cruyff Turn” – a delicious move for wingers to leave fullbacks flapping in the wind, one just as much about using space as the ball. Cruyff, collecting the ball on the left touchline with a defender breathing down his neck, flicked it behind his other leg and span around to collect it in one motion. The beauty lay in its originality and practicality. When Dennis Bergkamp bamboozled Newcastle’s defenders playing for Arsenal with an inside-out turn and body swerve in 2002, you could picture Cruyff nodding his approval. Bergkamp also shared another Cruyff trait: an aggressive streak allied to his breathtaking skills.