Here’s some vintage 1972 footage of Johan Cruyff in his first spell at Ajax.
What a first touch! Enough to take the three-time European Footballer Of The Year to the edge of the area and leave Den Haag defender Cees Weimar trailing.
If you watch the video a second time, you’ll see a bit of strapping in Cruyff’s right hand. He was tying up his socks and effectively out of the game before the ball was played forward. Which explains why Weimar was so far adrift in the first place.
For Cruyff magic in a Barcelona shirt, click here.
Rafael van der Vaart makes a bad situation worse by trying to talk his way out of it.
He should have covered up his nose and pretended to look for the culprit; a strategy which would have created enough doubt to spare him TV humiliation. Remember that Garrincha’s Dog hint the next time you find yourself in an awkward social jam!
A totally different sort of van der Vaart stinker can be seen here.