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Perhaps the best tribute to Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff, who died on Thursday, came from Pep Guardiola, widely acclaimed as one of the greatest managers in world football.

While managing Bayern Munich in 2013, Guardiola, who learnt the tricks of the trade from Cruyff, paid this tribute to his mentor: "Cruyff painted the chapel, and Barcelona coaches since merely restore and improve it."

Cruyff was special. At the 1974 World Cup, the world watched in admiration as, under his tutelage, the Netherlands football team unleashed a radically different style of play. It would come to be known as "total football". Cryuff's Dutchmen shocked the world, defeating Argentina, East Germany and Brazil on their way to finishing runners-up (video above), despite scoring a goal after perhaps the most-acclaimed move in World Cup history, during which the opponents, Germany, didn't even touch the ball.

Even in his later playing years, Cruyff's tactical sharpness never left him. In 1982 while playing for Ajax Amsterdam in a league game against Helmond, Cruyff stepped up to take a penalty and did something never seen before – he passed it to his team-mate Jesper Olsen who scored.

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His managerial career reaped much success. After taking Ajax to the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1987, Cruyff moved to Barcelona in 1988 and won a record 11 trophies there in his 12 years. It remained a record till his pupil Guardiola surpassed it. Football critics still recognise Cruyff as the manager who put the system in place for Barcelona's present global superiority in club football.

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The footballing world was plunged into sadness one learning that he had lost his battle against cancer. The Dutch have lost one of their most beloved sons and football, one of its most influential icons.

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