Former Dutch star Edwin van der Sar, now Ajax’s marketing manager, said the news of the passing of Johan Cruyff from cancer left the Amsterdam club, where he began his career, in a stateof shock.
“News of Johan’s death has hit us hard,” Van der Sar told NOS, “even though we were fully aware that Johan was sick and that cancer had been detected last Octoberbut the news is also unexpected. We have canceled the youth training games. This is a massive shock for Ajax and everybody associated with the club Johan Cruyff had a lot of victories in his life andwe had hoped that he would do the same with his illness.”
Van der Sar added, ”Johan Cruyff is the greatest player that Ajax has ever produced and the number 14 shirt of thisclub is his. His actions as a player and his successes as a player and a manager but not just with football but also for young people that wanted to study he set up a university, college and alsohelping people with a handicap. It is not just the football world that will miss him.”