Jordi Cruyff, the Dutch boss of Maccabi Tel Aviv, who is to step down at the end of the current season, March 2018. (YouTube screenshot)
Jordi Cruyff, the Dutch boss of Maccabi Tel Aviv, is to step down at the end of the season after six years during which he steered the soccer club to three Israeli championships.
Cruyff, 44, son of the late Dutch soccer legend Johan, joined the club in 2012 after a successful first management spell at Cypriot club AEK Larnaca and served first as sports director then as coach.
As well as back-to-back titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Maccabi also won the Israel State Cup in 2015 and the Toto Cup in 2014.
In a statement on its website, the club gave no reason for Cruyff’s departure and no indication of his future plans.
Cruyff began his playing career with Barcelona making his top-flight debut in 1994, before signing for Manchester United in 1996.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
His spell at the English giants was plagued by injury problems and in 2000 he moved to Spanish club Alaves on a free transfer.
The following year the club reached the UEFA Cup final against Liverpool and in the 89th minute Cruyff leveled the score at 4-4 to send the game into extra time. But an own goal in the second half gave the title to Liverpool.
He spent brief spells with other clubs before announcing his retirement in 2010 and moving into management.
Advertisement
A picture taken in Amsterdam on May 9, 2017, shows a giant picture of former Dutch professional football player and coach Johan Cruyff (1947-2016) made by Brazilian artist Paulo Consentino. (AFP PHOTO / ANP / Koen van Weel / Netherlands OUT)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
