Jordi Cruijff has left a lasting impression in Israel. The Dutchman was under contract as technical director between 2012 and 2017 and later as trainer. He fundamentally changed Israeli football.
Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv will face each other in the Europa League on Thursday. A special match for Jordi Cruijff, who has a history with both clubs. In Israel, Cruijff’s legacy is still palpable. “Jordi has taken football in Israel to a new level,” said Assaf Cohen, who covers football as an analyst on Israeli television.
“It became more professional, so in that respect he was definitely a great success,” the reporter explains. His colleague Inbal Manor is also very complimentary of Cruijff. ‘I call him the architect of Israeli football. Now when he comes back to Israel, everyone wants to talk to him. You can divide football in Israel into two periods: the one before Cruijff and the one after Cruijff.’
Cohen told an anecdote about how Cruyff brought Western influences to Israel. ‘The training complex was immediately closed. Not metaphorically, but literally. In the past, journalists just walked on the field. It is not that he invented football in Israel, we already had balls and grass fields here, but he certainly professionalized it.’
Read the whole story about Jordi Cruijff’s influence at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the PRO story below:
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