#1 Barcelona pay moving tribute to Johan Cruyff
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March 24, 2016. A heartbreaking day for FC Barcelona. Johan Cruyff lost his battle with cancer and passed away at the age of 68. The Dutchman is widely regarded as the godfather of the modern day Barca having reinvigorated the club as a player as well as a coach.
Cruyff was the pioneer who passed on his footballing knowledge to his ‘Dream Team’ players (especially Pep Guardiola) and is credited as the exponent of the ‘Tiki Taka’ philosophy that Barcelona have been known for and been so successful with in the past decade. When news of his death came, there was an outpouring of grief from the entire footballing fraternity and Barcelona as players, coaching staff and the people paid their respects to the man who heralded the golden generation in Blaugrana history.
On the eve of the El Clasico, a week after his death, 90,000 fans held a huge mosaic which said ‘Gracies Johan’ (Thank You Johan) in a moving tribute to the former Ajax star. There was also a moment of silence as well as applause throughout the 14th minute of the game to honor the player who wore 14.
It was a fitting tribute to a phenomenon, one of the greatest to ever play the game.
