johan-cruyff - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The best soccer players of all time to never win a World CupIt’s the pinnacle of soccer. The World Cup is a spectacle unlike any other in sport. And to truly be considered the greatest to ever lace up your cleats, you need to have lifted the trophy. Why can’t Dan Marino be in the discussion for the greatest quarterback of all time? He never won a Super Bowl....

I MF’d BarcelonaThere’s no hiding, not after yesterday. Not after Barcelona, just months ago the biggest figure of fun in world soccer, waltzed into the Bernabeu, and kicked eight different kinds of shit out Madrid to the tune of 4-0. It could have been 8-0 or 10-0. It probably should have been 5-0 or 6-0. This was...

Perhaps it’s time for Barcelona to recognize what they areIt couldn’t end any other way, especially when you bone it and get zipped by Rayo Vallecano to fall to ninth in the La Liga table....

First it was very much Spain, then it wasn’t, then it was, then it wasn’t, and now we don’t know what to think

I’ve been using the term “Spain’ing” a lot during Euro 2020, harkening back to the era before Spain was drenched in medals, where they would always squander any tournament despite fielding one of the most talented squads. They could find any way to lose back then, whether through simple malaise, or ...

Johan Cruyff, The Man Who Invented Modern Soccer, Dies At 68

It would be impossible to even approach summing up the totality of Johan Cruyff’s unparalleled influence and contributions to the game of soccer in one blog post. First as the best player on the planet suiting up for Ajax, Barcelona, and the Dutch national team in the 1960s and 1970s, and later as a...

Cruyff's Turn: How Barcelona's Greatest Icon Created Its Greatest Player

As you’ve probably heard by now, this week marks the 10-year anniversary of Lionel Messi’s first official appearance with the Barcelona first team. The soccer world has come together to celebrate this feat, remarkable for all the obvious reasons—the goals, the passes, the dribbles, the trophies—and ...

The Brilliance And Madness Of Dutch Wizard Johan Cruyff

From Eduardo Galeano's classic, now available as an ebook. We'll have excerpts throughout the week....

What Johan Cruyff's Flameout Says About Mexican Soccer's Problems

Republished with permission from The Classical, which just launched a fancy new web magazine. The magazine is available via monthly or yearly subscriptions, as well as single-issue purchases, on the Apple iOS newstand. It’s $2.99 if you pay monthly, $29.99 if you sign up for a year in advance, and $...