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| Jordi
Cruijff - Living in the Shadow |
14 August 2000
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son of football's Player of the Century has been back in Holland preparing
for the coming season of Spanish football with his current club Deportivo
Alavés. Pretty much a forgotten footballer in his own country - mostly
remembered for the few appearances he made for Holland - he has not
been the luckiest man in football, having spent four unhappy years at
Manchester United being plagued with fitness problems. Just before moving
to Manchester he underwent surgery on his knee which almost cost him his
career. Further surgery was needed to correct the mistakes made in the
first operation - the beginning of a long, dark tunnel of injuries
broken only by fleeting appearances in a red shirt. Although other English
clubs were interested in the talented Dutchman (a deal with West Ham
stranded on a sandbank of paperwork) the choice he eventually made for the
Basque side Alavéz offers him weekly football in a team who were the
scourge of the Spanish Premier league last season and the chance to play
against the top teams of European football this season (Alavéz play
for the first time in their history in Europe). At 26 he knows the coming
year in Spain will determine whether or not there is truly to be a Jordi
revival. If he succeeds in showing the football watching world his
undoubted capabilities it could mean a new lease of life for
him and the chance to break free of the past.
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