Johan Cruijff Returns To The Spanish Sidelines

November 2nd, 2009 | by: chris | Comments(5)

While Maradona is busy making a shamockery of the Argentinean national side, the man who typically lurks behind Diego & Pele – whether prudent or not – in the discussion for the world’s greatest ever player has returned to football. Johan Cruijff, arguably the greatest ever player/coach combination in football history, has returned to the bench Catalonia – and don’t you call it Spain. No, he hasn’t shockingly taken back the reigns at Barca and shoved Pep out the door after Gerard Pique’s exquisite finish off Victor Valdes’ face on the weekend, but rather on the sidelines of the unofficial Catalonian national football team.

For those not in the know, the Catalonian NT is the biggest nondeal in football. Despite not being recognized by FIFA – or, more accurately, precisely because it’s not recognized by FIFA – it boasts names you may have heard before, such as Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Capdevila, Reina, Busquets, Krkic, Valdes and Pique. In fact their full-strength XI just might do some major damage on the international scene.

Match practice and team chemistry might be an issue though, as they only play one game a year, a friendly at the Camp Nou in December.

That Johan Cruijff is coaching one exhibition game in an unofficial manner isn’t a big deal. That it’s in Catalonia, home of Barcelona, where he masterminded the rise of the dream team more than 15 years ago, isn’t a big deal either – it’s Johan’s home. But his return to an official football title might beg the question, what’s next?.

Last summer, Cruijff ‘returned’ to Ajax in a technical capacity only to fall out with Marco van Basten before anything could get off the ground. This also came before MvB fell out with himself. At 62, one of football’s greatest minds clearly has a few years left – and much to be said – so it’s possible this may very well be a test to get his feet wet. Or it may be the perfect employment for a 62 year old man: one day a year.

Of course Cruijff and Catalonia doesn’t start and stop with the bench or FC Barcelona. His arrival in Catalonia in 1973 went about changing football culture, and it spawned a documentary just a few years back called En momento un dado (a well-known Cruijff-ism).

It’s a wonderful little look into the heights of near Cruijff-mania, and would do a great deal in explaining what this move to the Catalonia bench means to the people, but you’re likely out of luck unless speaking either Dutch or Spanish.