Ajax won three straight European Cups from 1971 through 1973 , and each time Cruijff was voted European Player of the Year . But he was an opinionated and difficult man , and quarrels punctuated his career . In 1973 , after his teammates voted him out of Ajax ’ s captaincy , he fled to Barcelona . The club swiftly won its first Spanish title in fourteen years .
Cruijff is best remembered as the guide of Holland ’ s great team at the World Cup of 1974 , though sadly the lost final against West Germany was his worst match of the tournament . In 1978 , aged only 31 , he decided for family reasons to skip the World Cup in Argentina . He retired from soccer that year , but then discovered that he had lost his money in terrible investments , and had to return . He played five more brilliant years for the Los Angeles Aztecs , Washington Diplomats , Ajax , and finally Ajax ’ s great rival Feyenoord Rotterdam , before retiring at age 37 to become an equally brilliant -- and quarrelsome – coach .