The nineteenth winner of the "Golden Ball" - Johan Cruyff

The nineteenth Ballon d'Or winner - Johan Cruyff

A record third Ballon d'Or for the wonder of the Netherlands in 1974

Despite the incredible achievements of German football, which included a world title for West Germany and winning the first European Champions Cup with Bayern Munich, again the incredible Johan Cruyff won the Ballon d'Or in 1974. For the second year in a row and the third year in the last four, Cruyff is the No. 1 player on the Old Continent. Already as a Barcelona player, he set a new record, improving the achievement of Alfredo Di Stefano, who was the only one before him to have two such awards.

The Dutch footballer finally has serious competition in the ranking, in which he again collects 116 points, as in his success in 1971, but Franz Beckenbauer also reached his peak form. The defender of Bayern Munich and West Germany remains only 11 points from the first in the standings. Only third is Kazmiej Dejna, who performed extremely well at the world finals, from the third place on the fields in West Germany - Poland. The attacking midfielder of Legia Warsaw collects only 35 points.

A total of 26 journalists from UEFA member countries have the right to vote and every one of them voted for Cruyff. 15 are first places, 9 second, one third and one fourth, making the total points for the Barcelona forward 116. According to 10 of the voters, Beckenbauer should be the winner, 13 people leave him in second position and one in third. According to two, he does not deserve to be in the top five at all. It is interesting that one of the first places goes to Gerd Müller, who is again among the top scorers, but remains only seventh in the standings for the "Golden Ball". After Poland's Dayna, Paul Breitner from Bayern Munich with 32 points, Johan Neeskens from Barcelona with 21 and Grzegorz Lato with 16 are in the ranking. The striker of Stal Mielec is also the top scorer of the World Cup with 7 goals.

However, how does Kroy manage to overcome European club champions, world champions, top scorers and players whose teams have far more success than Barcelona? The answer lies in his performance on the pitches in Spain, as well as in West Germany, where he played with his national team in a final lost to the hosts of this World Cup. With the captain's armband on his arm, Cruyff has been fantastic since the first group stage, and the "Tulips" achieved two victories, one of which was over Bulgaria, as well as a draw. In the second group, the Netherlands have to face Argentina, East Germany and Brazil. Even against the Argentines, Cruyff shines with two goals – the opener and the final 4:0. Another easy victory followed, this time 2-0 over East Germany, after which the Brazilians were on their knees before Neeskens and Cruyff, who scored both goals for Rinus Mikels' side. The Netherlands are in the final and everyone expects the two best footballers of the "Tulips" to defeat the favorites and hosts West Germany, and although Neeskens scored in the second minute from the penalty spot, Paul Breitner and Gerd Müller bring the turnaround and Germany's second world title. However, Cruyff remains one of the most impressive players in this championship and many believe that he will soon achieve significant success at national level.

With his club team Barcelona, the Dutchman did not play in the spring in Europe, where Bayern Munich triumphed in the KES, and Gerd Müller was the top scorer with 8 goals. Barca is out and from the second strongest competition at the end of 1973. On his return to the most prestigious tournament, however, the Spanish champion is uncompromising and quickly reaches the third round. Champions with 10 points ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, the Catalans look completely different in their squad with Cruyff and in the summer signing Neeskens to become a terror in Europe as well.

Johan Cruyff went down in history forever, becoming the first player to win 3 Ballons d'Or with two different teams. Despite not having much success at club and national level, what the Dutchman is doing is unheard of in football until now. His technical capabilities are defined as alien, and the ease with which he plays is even more impressive. His speed and desire to contribute to the success of his team more than to score goals himself make him humble and unreal class.

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