Mata's Tribute To Cruyff

Each Monday, Manchester United forward Juan Mata reflects on his experiences on and off the pitch in his personal blog. This week, the Spaniard pays tribute to the late Johan Cruyff and looks back on his week on international duty with Spain...

Hi everyone,

In this moment, when I'm writing to you, I'm about to finish my one-week training camp with Spain. Other national teams still have to play this Monday, but we've already played our two friendly games scheduled for these days.

Last Thursday, we played in Udine against Italy. It was a tough game from the beginning. They were pressing very well and created an advantage in the midfield to block our way to their box. But we were competitive and managed to get a draw at the end. At certain moments they were better, however, we defended well (David had something to say too!) and we scored from one of our few chances. Italy confirmed that they are a team you always have to be careful of. In fact, they are the European runners-up, a very competitive team.

On Sunday, in Cluj, our rivals were Romania. Their players are not so well known as the Italians but they showed why they made it to Euro 2016. We experienced a great atmosphere in the stadium, and the result at the end was another draw: 0-0.

Of course, I don't want to overlook the sad news of Johan Cruyff's death. Many things have been said about him these days. I would like to add that I consider him the ideological father of football; the one I try to play like and the one I look to learn from as a spectator whenever I watch a game. The intelligent use of the ball and the spaces, the importance of talent over the physical condition and the understanding of football as a team sport are concepts that I definitely endorse. Besides, I think that the idea of attacking and taking the initiative of the game, match very well with the philosophy and greatness of Manchester United, where his son Jordi played. It's a great loss but we will always have his legacy - "He was the game".

Hugs and have a great week,

Juan

Read Juan's blog in full at kicca.com/juanmata8.

Credit: Manutd.com