The story of how the Netherlands' Total Football captured the world's imagination is told in the fourth of our World Cup Icons series.
There was an orange haze during the summer months. One of the floppy-haired Dutch men let their revolutionary brand of football loose on the world and cavorted their way into the hearts and minds of the public. He had a summer. It nearly was.
As he traveled through West Germany in 1974, he embraced each game with more of a dance than a fight, and each balletic movement steeped in vision and expectation.
The moment he conjured up an unmistakable turn that bamboozled Sweden's Jan Olsson and was cast in football folklore is the moment he was mentioned.
In his book, My Turn, he wrote that the turn wasn't something he had ever done. It was the best solution for the situation I was in when the idea came to me.
The individual moment of brilliance he is remembered most vividly for was a beautiful contradiction.
He was the face of Total Football, a style of play where success blossoms with a collective, almost telepathy understanding of space and movement among all 11 players, but he was also the one star that could break the mold.
A team who captured the imagination with football as vivid and resplendent as their orange shirts, including leaving their mark on a manager, was known as the "cruyff" team.
At the Legacy Summit, he said he discovered new football. Holland did that already when they spoke about pressing, transition and winning the ball back quickly.
They were well ahead of the game. They believed in the way they thought about the game, and they were not willing to compromise with their ideas.
It was a concept that began with a club that was just five minutes away from the childhood home of a famous player. After his father's death, 'Jopie' joined as a 10-year-old, his mother later got a job there as a cleaner, and it was Ajax that helped supplement him leaving school at 15 by faking his age.'
During a boom for Dutch clubs, the great RinusMichels led a side that went on to dominate European football.
After developing a style of football that would see Ajax win their first European Cup in 1971 and after he left for Barcelona, he built a side that won three successive continental crowns.
"Michels made us run less and take over each other's positions, which was revolutionary," said a former Dutch player.
It was the first time that there was a completely different view of football. All over the world, football is spread. For almost 40 years, it was the only significant change. He made a huge impact on the world.
At a time when social and cultural change was taking place in the Netherlands, an idol for young people was about to be crowned.
He was admired by young people for his practical approach. He was cool as a teenager, but he was also aggressive, demanding and rebelling.
Johnny Rep remembered that he was told to do this in a game or else. It was difficult for me to stop talking.
During the summer training camp, the squad voted Piet Keizer in as captain, despite the fact that he had worn the captain's armband. It spelled the end of Amsterdam for Cruyff, who said it was a form of jealousy he had never before experienced.
He joined Barcelona for a world-record £922,000 and helped them win the La Liga title.
During the international camps that followed, some of his former colleagues were unhappy with him because they thought he was late or not travelling with the team. They regrouped and prepared for a tournament that would change a lot of their lives.
Before World War Two, the Netherlands had never appeared at the European Championships and had not qualified for a World Cup finals in over a century.
Jan Verheyen's 89th-minute winner was ruled out despite replays showing the Belgian was being played on by a number of players.
Frantisek Fadrhonc was replaced byMichels. It turned out to be a great idea.
The majority of the squad was made up of players with a connection to the Amsterdam club. There was a surprise call up for FC Amsterdam goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed, the cigar shop owner who won his only previous cap 12 years ago.
The rest of the squad had the system drilled into them during a pre-tournament camp at the leafy KNVB headquarters. The ultra-attacking remodel was one of the things thatMichels wanted.
They lost a friendly to a second division German team while trying to get used to the tactics, but just one week before the World Cup started, they beat Argentina.
Talented individuals acting in a disciplined group is what total football requires. Someone who whines or doesn't pay attention is a problem and you need a boss likeMichels to nip that in the bud.
The quality of the players isn't the main factor in total football. Everything falls into place when the distances and formation are perfect.
The Netherlands opened their first World Cup campaign in 36 years against Uruguay at the Niedersachsenstadion in Hannover, stepping out in orange shirts trimmed with the adidas logo along the sleeve. That is all the bars.
He refused to wear Adidas boots when playing for the national team because of his contract with the manufacturer. It was decided at the World Cup that he would have one of the stripes removed.
The players were not told about the contract with Adidas. They didn't think they needed to because the shirt they owned was theirs. I said that the head was mine.
He wrote in a column for a Dutch newspaper that the two stripes belonged to him.
In the opening game of the season in Hannover, Rep gave them the lead after seven minutes and then added a second to complete a victory that provided a glimpse of the team's potent mix.
The Dutch played out a goalless draw with Sweden, which was remembered for one of the most famous flashes of brilliance in the game's history.
The diagonal ball was on the Swedish box. His first touch almost let him down but he was able to control it and the game of cat and mouse began.
With the Sweden full-back already moving in the direction of the anticipated pass, the Dutch captain wrapped his boot around the ball and dragged it through his legs.
Your technical and tactical knowledge has become so good that your legs are able to respond immediately to what your head wants them to do. If that is a flash in the brain.
I use feints like that. They have never been used to make the opponent look foolish.
He thought he was going to take the ball.
He didn't understand how he did it. I think I have the ball when I watch the video. I'm sure I'll take it, but he surprises me.
The move ultimately came to nothing and the Netherlands were unable to find a breakthrough, but the most recognisable image of that World Cup was that of Cruyff.
By the time the final group game against Bulgaria came around, the Netherlands were confident and had won 4-1 against a side that included several of the CSKASofia team who had just lost in the European Cup.
While the Dutch captain toyed with and riled the Bulgarias, he almost scored following a run, after the Dutch captain won a penalty and dribbled into the box from the left.
Rep made it three after Cruyff sent the black and white tournament ball spinning into the area from a free-kick, before a floated cross from the Barcelona player found the diving Theo de Jong.
The Dutch were moving at a good pace. Their football was captivating fans on the terraces and those watching from home and their choir of orange-clad supporters was getting louder with every performance.
The opening goal of the Netherlands' game against Argentina was a perfect example of their amazing style.
After recovering possession in the Argentina half, the Dutch found a way to get the ball in the back of the net, thanks to a wonderful chip by van Hanegem.
Krol added a second and Rep headed in a third from the deep cross as bossMichels, raincoat covering his knees, observed from the bench with a glimpse of a smile during a rainstorm in Gelsenkirchen.
The second-half weather did not stop the Dutch from dominating the game, and goalkeeper Jongbloed only touched the ball once. The hype surrounding this team and their seemingly unstoppable captain was further whipped up with a late fourth by Cruyff.
He would have been a good ballet dancer according to them. I think he could have been anything he wanted to be.
As a teenager, he watched in awe as the Netherlands' number 14 wreaked havoc on his countrymen, but he went on to become a World Cup winner himself.
He has never seen a player rule a match like that. The owner of the show was more important than the referee or fans. He had a good grasp on what was happening. At the same time, he was a player, coach and referee.
He admitted to being tense in the early stages of the tournament but was now wowing the press with his manner off the pitch as well as on it, apart from one Dutch critic who was tossed, fully clothed, into the hotel swimming pool.
Brian Glanville is an English football writer. He was surrounded by a polyglot of journalists and dealt with them in multiple languages.
After a 2-0 win over East Germany in June, the Netherlands were in a position to face Brazil in the semi-finals.
After leaving the national team in 1971 to protest against Brazil's military regime, he spent the 1974 World Cup working for a beverage company.
South America looked to take the initiative in the opening 20 minutes, but Brazil still boasted the likes of Roberto and Jairzinho, who missed golden chances. With the holders in blue and the Dutch in white, it was more than just their kits that were not recognizable.
Krol said that the game had everything. There was a lot of football. I like the fact that it was a game on the limit. Everything must be done to win.
The Netherlands received one booking in the first half. After the break, there was some stardust on the skirmish with a pass from the right between a pair of backtracking Brazilians for Neeskens to loop over the goalkeeper.
Their superior goal difference meant the Dutch only needed a draw to progress, but they made sure of their place in the final with 25 minutes remaining when Cruyff finished off a flowing move down the left. As Brazil relinquished their hold on the trophy, Luis Pereira was sent off for a hack.
In the game against Brazil it all came together. The game against Brazil was the moment when everyone realized how good we were.
We thought we were playing the team of 1970 when we walked on the pitch. 30 minutes later, we realized that we were more skilled than them.
The process we had focused on resulted in winning. The first thing to do was to make the crowd happy.
The Netherlands had been good and compelling. The boss went back to Barcelona to watch his team play in the Spanish Cup final.
The Dutch camp was uneasy before the final because of a story in a German newspaper.
The life at the Waldhotel Krautkramer in Hiltrup was becoming a bit of a drag as Auke Kok explained in the book.
A group of players decided to have a party after the win over East Germany.
Volendam band The Cats performed, sparkling wine and cigars were enjoyed, and by 2am several people fancied a swim in the hotel pool, where they were joined by a group of locals.
Kok said there was a bit of flirting. The story about nude girls, champagne, and a refreshing dip was not known to the Dutch, but it was published in the German newspaper. The captain spent a lot of time on the hotel phone trying to appease his wife.
The German press tried to unsettle the Dutch if they met the hosts in the final, according to head coachMichels.
They did on 7 July at the Olympic Stadium.
The loss of family members in the war still carries huge cultural significance for many in the Netherlands.
The Dutch went into the final as the favorites and there was a lot of hope that they would lift the World Cup.
"You could see it in their eyes," said a German player. They wanted to know how many goals we wanted to lose by today. I tried to look them in the eye while we were waiting, but I couldn't. We felt small because they made us feel that way.
Dutch preparation was bad, compounded by the loss of The Cats cassette tape, and they had to listen to Sorrow by David Bowie.
He didn't sleep well the night before the final and smoked in his room. He chewed gum as he watched the teams line up. The Netherlands' huge following was vastly outnumbered by home spectators.
The hosts had been booed during an unconvincing start to the tournament that featured a defeat by neighbours East Germany, and they were immediately left stunned by the Dutch as Cruyff went on a surging run, dummying and shimmying his way into the penalty area where he was brought down by U
As several players have conceded, they set about trying to humiliate their hosts with the kind of football that won them so many admirers throughout the tournament, but, this time without adding to their.
It was a case of pride before the fall. It's hard to turn it around once you're past that point of over-confidence.
Everyone was either too early or late for the match. It wasn't completely. You can sometimes lose a game.
Despite their slow start to the competition, West Germany were also a very good side and moments after a great chance for Rep at one end, Holzenbein went down inside the box. It was Germany's final after Paul Breitner leveled from the spot.
The term "cruyff" was a lie before it was used. He was everywhere during the World Cup, dropping deep as a player and drifting on to the flanks. He dribbled more than any other player in the tournament.
The captain was dragged further away from goal as the Netherlands struggled to wrestle back control.
He came in for rough treatment from Berti Vogts, who was eventually booked, but then also had an argument with the referee at the half-time break after the hosts had taken the lead. The Dutch had some disagreements with one another.
The mentally and physically drained Cruyff couldn't find his spark. He created a number of chances when he was back in a forward position after the break.
There was a feeling of disappointment when it was over. You are the best in the world, but you have not won the prize.
The squad were welcomed back in the Netherlands with a reception at the Royal Palace and a celebration on the Stadsschouwburg balcony. He wrote that he got over the disappointment of the final loss.
He said that it was more important that the play generated a lot of positive vibes.
We had set an example. We gave hope to the players who were not big or strong. During that tournament, the philosophy of how football should be played was changed.
His status changed as well. He had already been crowned the world's best twice, but he didn't feel like a celebrity until that tournament. He won his third Ballon d'Or in four seasons after it was over.
"Cruyff was an excellent player," said the boss. He was able to find the optimal solution. He had the skills to make it happen. He made a decision that was exceptional.
He was a class above everyone else on the field. Few players like that. You wanted to look like him on the field.
1974 was the only World Cup he had ever participated in. After helping the Netherlands qualify for the 1978 tournament in Argentina, he decided not to play because of a kidnapping attempt at his family's home in Barcelona.
It made him a legend.
In four weeks on the global stage, he was a coach who gave the sport a new philosophy. He left a legacy that spanned a flick, a touch, a goal, even a turn, one that has survived beyond the last tie of his boot laces.
There is a bibliography.
The World Cup icons series on the British Broadcasting Corporation.
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