6) Didn’t play in the 1978 World Cup
For years, tabloids ran a lot of versions of this story—his refusal to play the 1978 World Cup, in a tournament where the Oranje finished runners-up. Till this day, many Dutch fans believe that their nation would have won the World Cup had their greatest player been playing.
Many reasons were cooked up about him not joining the camp with Netherlands in Argentina, with the most prevalent being that his beloved wife, Danny Coster, forbidding him from doing so over fears that he may cheat on her.
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However, as mentioned in the previous slide, Cruyff revealed the real reason for his decision to not go to the 1978 World Cup was the kidnapping attempt
"All these things change your point of view towards many things. There are moments in life in which there are other values,” he said.
"We wanted to stop this and be a little more sensible. It was the moment to leave football and I couldn't play in the World Cup after this."
