The “Dream Team” was only dubbed as such after the Barcelona hosted 1992 Olympics, after the US Basketball team. Cruyff’s squad was composed of Pep Guardiola who is the current Barcelona coach, Txiki Beguiristain, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea and Jose Mari Bakero from Spain; to those he added Brazilian Romario, Dutchman Ronald Koeman, Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov, Romanian Gheorghe Hagi and Dane Michael Laudrup.

Cruyff lead the Dream Team to for La Liga titles on the trot between 1991 and 1994; They defeated Sampdoria in the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final and the final match of the 1992 European Cup at Wembley Stadium with a famous Ronald Koeman free kick goal. They took the Copa del Rey title in 1990, three Spanish Supercups and the 1992 European Supercup.

Sometimes people debate the reason’s for the Dream Team’s successes. While there was a wealth of able talent no one’s ego seemed to get in the way, as is often the case. They all kept their egos under control, whether through their own control, or careful management by Cruyff.

Barça fans have several reasons for loving Cruyff; besides being a first class player, he mentioned that he would never have played for Real Madrid which was supported by General Franco, the Spanish dictator. He had also refused to play for the Dutch national team in the 1978 World Cup which was held in Argentina, as the country was then ruled by a military Junta.

The choice of a Catalan name for his son -Jordi- also added to his popularity. Cruyff egged Barcelona on to their first Spanish League title in 14 years; a time when they also defeated Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabeu and Cruyff was named European footballer of the year.

Perhaps the biggest reason for Cruyff’s success – and indeed, his biggest contribution to the club – was in introducing “total football”, which he had learnt while playing for Ajax. Total Football is a tactical style of play where any player who is out of position can be replaced by any other player, creating extremely dynamic play.

To this day supports still look back on the Dream Team with fondness. Most Barça supporters look back on the Dream Team era fondly and for a while they believed that they had a new Dream team under Frank Rijkaard. Despite some notable successes their hopes were not met and when Rijkaard was sacked he was replaced by one of the Dream team; Pep Guardiola has gone on to enjoy huge success as the Barcelona coach.

The Golden Era For Barça- Cruyff’s Dream Team is a post from: WiredWriter