Football is simple but the hardest thing to do is play simple football.
Johan CruijffRead
I always threw the ball in, because then if I got the ball back, I was the only player unmarked.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a strategic approach to playing and taking advantage of opportunities that arise.
Johan Cruijff's quote highlights the importance of being proactive and strategic in both sports and life. By throwing the ball in, he ensured he remained unmarked and ready to seize the opportunity, demonstrating how calculated decisions can lead to advantageous positions when faced with competition.
In practice
In a motivational speech about teamwork during a sports event.
Football is simple but the hardest thing to do is play simple football.
Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.
Choose the best player for every position, and you'll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong 1's.
If you have the ball, you must make the field as big as possible, and if you don't have the ball, you must make it as small as possible.
Someone who has juggled the ball in the air during a game, after which four defenders of the opponent get the time to run back, that's the player people think is great. I say he has to go to a circus.
Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.
I don't care how many championships you've won or how many records you've broken - if you've had a hand in pushing forward not only a game but women in sport's movement, then I think that's pretty darn good.
I believe in work, in connections between the players, I think what makes football great is that it is a team sport. You can win in different ways, by being more of a team, or by having better individual players. It is the team ethic that interests me, always.
They invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays.
Football is about having the best offensive play possible. I always like to play offensive football, and nobody will convince me otherwise.
You can win tournaments when you're mechanical, but golf is a game of emotion and adjustment. If you're not aware of what's happening to your mind and your body when you're playing, you'll never be able to be the very best you can be.
Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.
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