Heroes & Humans of Football Johan Cruyff & Holland 1974 - The most exciting team never to win the World Cup
Fifty years ago this week, Johan Cruyff took one of the most exciting teams in football history to the 1974 World Cup final. But his Holland lost to West Germany, largely because of what has gone down in Dutch history as “The Swimming Pool Affair” – a German tabloid’s front-page scoop that cost Cruyff great anguish and many hours in a phone booth calling his furious wife. We tell the story of Dutch “total football”, of the rock-star team that lived it large both on the field and off it, of the manager who was simultaneously coaching FC Barcelona, and of Johan Cruyff himself: the man who invented modern football, and fought with everybody, including with his biggest fan, Simon.
Timestamps:
00:00:29 - Introduction to the story of the 1974 Dutch national team and Johan Cruyff
00:02:23 - Explanation of the Dutch team's revolutionary playing style
00:03:19 - Background on the development of "total football" in Amsterdam
00:08:18 - Discussion of Cruyff's upbringing and early career with Ajax
00:10:05 - Cruyff's childhood and the impact of his father's death
00:11:30 - Introduction of Rinus Michels as Ajax manager
00:14:01 - Development of Ajax's new playing style under Michels and Cruyff
00:15:29 - Description of the dynamic between Cruyff and Michels
00:19:07 - Lead-up to the 1974 World Cup and the Dutch team's preparations
00:24:36 - Context of the 1974 World Cup in West Germany
00:27:02 - Description of the Dutch team's behaviour during the World Cup
00:28:17 - Cruyff's unconventional decisions in team selection
00:30:31 - Discussion of the Dutch team's appearance and iconic orange jerseys
00:33:03 - Description of the Dutch team's revolutionary playing style in action
00:36:07 - The "swimming pool affair" and its impact on Cruyff before the final
00:43:03 - The World Cup final against West Germany
00:45:55 - Aftermath of the final and Dutch reaction to finishing second
00:47:20 - Legacy of the 1974 Dutch team and Cruyff's impact on football
00:49:28 - Simon's experience interviewing Cruyff years later and subsequent fallout
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