Johan Cruyff's son Jordi revealed that his father had two regrets as his career came to an end. Firstly, he regretted not coaching the Dutch national team during the Italia '90 World Cup. Secondly, he wished he had the opportunity to play or coach in England.
It was the second round of the 1966-67 European Cup, as Rinus Michels’ Ajax faced Bill Shankly’s Liverpool.
"At that time, Liverpool were not just the best club in England, but one of the strongest teams in the world," Cruyff wrote in his posthumously-released autobiography My Turn.
Ajax won Liverpool and moved to the next round, despite the outcome, it was the electric atmosphere at Anfield that left the biggest impression on a young Johan Cruyff.
"I stood on the pitch at Anfield with goosebumps, because of the atmosphere," Cruyff remembered. "My happiness at our progress was matched only be the impression Anfield had left on me; from that evening English football had captured my heart.
"I had never seen anything like this – the passion for the game, and how much the fans wanted their team to win, and it made me think that one day I would like to play in England."
"Unfortunately that dream didn’t come to pass, because in those days borders were still closed to foreign players. Even today I still think that was a terrible shame."
The historic mistwedstrijd, also known as 'the fog game', took place during the first leg at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Despite the thick mist making it almost unplayable, Ajax managed to take a commanding 4-0 lead and ultimately won the game 5-1.
In the second leg at Anfield, Shankly confidently predicted a 7-0 win for Liverpool to overturn the previous result. However, Cruyff scored two goals in a comfortable 2-2 draw, securing Ajax's progression to the next round.
