Orange
Revolution
In club football, the Dutch
teams Ajax and Feyenord dominated Europe. Feyenord won the
European Cup (the forerunner of the Champions League) in
1970 and the UEFA Cup in 1974. The future Holland manager
Rinus Michels managed Ajax. They won the European Cup three
successive times in 1971, 72 and 74.
Both Dutch teams played what became known as 'total
football'. This was a revolutionary new approach to the
game in which every player had a creative role. Defenders
attacked and attackers defended and all players were
comfortable with the ball.
The objective was to keep possession of the ball by
continually 'passing and moving'. They also played the
'offside trap': defenders came out quickly to catch
opposing forwards offside.
The greatest 'total footballer’ was the Ajax and Holland
captain, Johan Cruyff. Cruyff was perhaps the greatest
passer of the ball in the history of the game. He also
invented a new technique now called the 'Cruyff turn'.