Johan Cruyff

Cruyff (right with Franz Beckenbauer) is one of the game's all-time legends

BBC TV's Match of the Day Live is calling on the expert opinions of the man voted Best European Footballer of the Century during Euro 2000.

Johan Cruyff's skills dominated European football in the 1970s.

Johan Cruyff

He was the brain behind the coming of Dutch 'total football', and by the time he left Ajax, the club had won six league titles, three European Cups and four Dutch Cups.

Cruyff was born just across the street from the Ajax Stadium in Amsterdam, joining their Juniors when he was 10, and scoring on his first team debut at the age of 17.

He first played for Holland in 1966, aged 19, and in 1971 he won the first of his three European Footballer of the Year titles.

Cruyff joined Barcelona in 1973, and a year later helped take Holland to the World Cup Final, losing 2-1 to Germany.

Cruyff as a player at Feyenoord

He finished his playing days with Rotterdam's Feyenoord in 1984, and returned to Ajax as technical director, guiding them to European Cup Winners Cup victory in 1987.

After Ajax he was tempted back to Barcelona, where, in 1992, he masterminded the Spanish giant's first European Cup triumph.

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who played under Cruyff at Barca, says: "Johan is one of the greatest footballers that ever lived.

"He's certainly not scared of giving an opinion, which is so important for a pundit... he'll be a massive attribute to the Match of the Day Live team."