Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has lung cancer. The news, reported by Spanish media this morning, was confirmed by Carole Thate, the agent of the former Ajax and Barcelona player.
Johan Cruyff has lung cancer. This is the devastating news reported this morning by the Spanish radio station Radio Catalunya and the newspaper El Mundo Deportivo. The news was later confirmed by Carole Thate, the former Ajax and Barcelona player’s agent. The severity of the tumor is still unknown, but it was discovered a week ago.
Born in an era of cultural change in which footballers freely smoked cigarettes — and he himself certainly smoked quite heavily — Cruyff decided in 1991, after undergoing heart surgery for coronary insufficiency, to take part in an anti-smoking television campaign. He became famous for a commercial in which he juggled a pack of cigarettes before crushing it.
Read also: The Story of Cruyff
Cruyff is now 68 years old and was one of the greatest and most famous footballers of all time. Nicknamed “White Pelé” or “The Prophet of Goal,” he was one of the leading figures of the football revolution in the 1970s with Ajax and the Netherlands national team, famous for introducing the style known as “Total Football.” Many of his legendary football quotes are still remembered today.
He won the Ballon d’Or in 1971, 1973, and 1974. With Ajax, he won three consecutive European Cups between 1971 and 1973. After retiring as a player, he became coach of the two most famous clubs he had represented: he won the Cup Winners’ Cup with Ajax in 1987 and the European Cup with Barcelona in 1992. He also worked as a director at Ajax and briefly served as president of Barcelona in 2010.