Johan Cruyff was more than familiar with what it took to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, having scooped the individual prize three times during his long and storied career. The Ajax and Barcelona icon was a glorious footballer, and will always be remembered as one of the greatest-ever.
His elegant touch and incredible brain for the beautiful game took him to the very top of the sport, before he even went on to become a highly successful manager. Pep Guardiola – the best modern-day boss – even hailed the Dutchman as the most influential manager of all time.
There are few more intelligent figures to have participated in the sport, in any capacity. This makes it extremely difficult to disagree with anything Cruyff has said, as the genius was often right.
Johan Cruyff Didn’t Think Fabio Cannavaro Deserved Ballon d’Or
The most recent defender to win the Ballon d’Or was Italian stalwart Fabio Cannavaro in 2006. The impressive centre-back was vital as Italy claimed the World Cup that year, but Cruyff wasn’t convinced he deserved the individual honour.
Per Sky Sports, the ex-Netherlands international claimed he wanted the award to go to an attack-minded player after Cannavaro’s club, Real Madrid, announced he would be winning the Ballon d’Or. He said: “With all respect to Cannavaro, for me football is more than just defending. Franz Beckenbauer won it, but he was an attacking player playing at the back, whereas Cannavaro is purely a defender.”
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The Dutchman continued to display his remarkable football alchemy even after retiring, assembling a greatest-ever lineup devoid of Messi and Ronaldo.
First naming two Barcelona superstars, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o, as candidates to be named the best player in the world that year, Cruyff settled on Arsenal hero Thierry Henry as his winner. The Barcelona icon stated:
“If the award is not going to go to Ronaldinho or Eto’o, due to the under-performance of one in the World Cup and non-appearance of the other, then I think it should go to only one other player: Thierry Henry.”
Cruyff: ‘I Think Henry Made a Mistake’
French striker turned down Barcelona
Despite thinking the France international should’ve been crowned as the Ballon d’Or winner in 2006, Cruyff had previously gone on record to say he made a big mistake by not joining Barcelona that summer. In May, before claiming Henry should’ve scooped the honour, Cruyff spoke of his disappointment at the failed transfer, saying (per Mail Sport):
“In the cold light of day, without looking inside his head, I think that he has made a mistake.
“He has taken a decision in the heat of the moment when you should make them with a lot of consideration. With his track record of what he has achieved in France and England, it only lacked a spell in Spain to give him the rubber stamp. This spell could have been at Barcelona.”
While the 228-goal Arsenal legend remained in north London for the 2006/07 season, he did make the move to Spain just 12 months later. This perhaps proved Cruyff’s point that the next step in his career was into the Spanish game.
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“I thought I could mark him and keep him quiet. It was only on the pitch that I realised how good he really was.”
Henry would go on to win the Champions League with Barca, something that had previously evaded him at Arsenal, Juventus and Monaco. Despite never getting his hands on the Ballon d’Or, he still had one of the most impressive careers of the 21st century and is regarded as the Premier League’s greatest player of all time.
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Thierry Henry’s Career Statistics |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Club |
Games |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Arsenal |
377 |
228 |
101 |
|
AS Monaco |
141 |
28 |
4 |
|
New York Red Bulls |
135 |
52 |
40 |
|
Barcelona |
121 |
49 |
27 |
|
Juventus |
20 |
3 |
2 |
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 15-06-25.
