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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