Johan Cruyff
Illness, death and tributes

He has enriched and personified our football. He was an icon of the Netherlands. Johan Cruijff belonged to all of us.

—King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands pays tribute following Cruyff's death.

Cruyff had always been a heavy smoker from his boyhood until he underwent an emergency bypass operation in 1991. After giving up smoking following the surgery, he took to sucking lollipops when watching games. He featured in a Catalan health department advertisement, saying, "Football has given me everything in life, tobacco almost took it all away." After more heart trouble in 1997, he vowed never to coach again (until 2009), though he remained a vocal football critic and analyst.

In October 2015 he was diagnosed with lung cancer. After the news broke, tributes poured in for Cruyff, with all Eredivisie games featuring a round of applause on 14 minutes, Cruyff's former shirt number. Ahead of their league game against Eibar at the Camp Nou (25 October 2015), Barcelona players showed their support for Cruyff by wearing orange T-shirts bearing the words "Ànims Johan" (Catalan for "Get well soon Johan"). Writing in his weekly De Telegraaf column, Cruyff admitted, "Often the media are an additional tax, but the last week that has been different. The way in which a reply is posted via a variety of media in my situation, was emotional and heartwarming. I am extremely proud of the appreciation shown by all responses." On his condition, Cruyff added, "Meanwhile, we have to wait. It's really annoying that it has been leaked so quickly, because the only thing I know now is that I have lung cancer. No more. Because the investigation is ongoing."

In mid-February 2016, he stated that he had been responding well to chemotherapy and was "winning" his cancer battle. On 2 March 2016, he was in attendance on the second day of winter testing at the Circuit de Catalunya just outside Barcelona and visited Dutch Formula One driver Max Verstappen. Cruyff appeared to be in good spirits and it is believed this was the last time he was seen in public. On the morning of 24 March 2016, in a clinic in Barcelona, Cruyff died at the age of 68, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. His lung cancer had metastasized to his brain and a week before his death he had begun to lose his ability to speak as well as movement on his left side. He was cremated in Barcelona within 24 hours of his death. A private ceremony was held, attended only by his wife, children and grandchildren.

Within a week of his death, several people (including players and managers) and organisations (including clubs) paid tribute to him, especially via social media. Thousands of Barcelona fans passed through the memorial to Cruyff, opened inside the Camp Nou stadium, to pay tribute. Former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, who did not have a good relationship with Cruyff, was among the early visitors to the memorial. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez led a Real Madrid delegation to the memorial, including former players Emilio Butragueño and Amancio Amaro.

A friendly match between the Netherlands and France was held on the day after Cruyff's death. The play (at the Amsterdam Arena) was stopped in the 14th minute as players, staff, and supporters gave a minute's applause for Cruyff, who wore the number 14 shirt for his country. Mascots from both teams took to the pitch wearing Netherlands national team shirts adorned with Cruyff's number 14 on the front, while there were numerous banners in the spectators' stands bearing the simple message, " Johan Bedankt " ("Thank you Johan").

Ahead of the El Clásico against Real Madrid (2 April 2016), Barcelona announced plans for five special tributes to Cruyff:
change_case:capital_word_frequency[3], length_constraints:number_paragraphs[3]