The Netherlands saluted legendary footballer Johan Cruyff on Friday as it mourned the death of its greatest sporting icon, whose influence stretched far beyond mere sport.
"He was by far the most famous Dutchman around the world," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said when learning of Cruyff's death in Spain after a months-long battle with lung cancer.
Dutch dailies without fail carried full front-page pictures of the man credited of unleashing "total football" on the world and making the team in orange a force to be feared.
For many of the Netherlands' 17 million citizens, Cruyff was more than just a sporting icon -- he was also the embodiment of the Dutch psyche and an instantly recognisable face across the globe.
- Universal icon -
"Cruyff was a universal icon and the ultimate Dutch ambassador -- mention Cruyff around the world and everybody knows where you're from," the popular daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad said.
It tells of how Cruyff's influence even helped to release hostages in the former Zaire in 1974 and in 2004 in southwest Russia's restive Dagestan.
Eight workers -- two of them Dutch and both Cruyff fans -- were kidnapped closed to Kinshasa's airport in 1974 in the central African country now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We used Cruyff's name, swopping anecdotes with our hostage-takers -- and it worked!" one of the Dutch kidnap victims told the paper.
"Three days later we were freed," said the man, who declined to give his name.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) employee Arjan Erkel was kidnapped in Dagestan in 2002.
After 18 months, the negotiators were out of options.
They placed a full page advert in one of Russia's largest newspaper featuring a picture of Cruyff, asking for Erkel's release.
"I'm not sure if the advert really helped, but two months later I was freed," Erkel told the paper.
"I was like 'Wow' Cruyff did this for me!" he said.
Trade-reliant Dutch business also profited from the Cruyff phenomenon with former Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) top executive Leo van Wijk saying the footballer's influence in business deals was "astounding."
"I've sometimes been jealous when comparing Cruyff's fame and name to that of KLM," Van Wijk said of the world's eight-largest airline by international passengers, according to official airline travel statistics.
"From China to Canada -- everywhere Cruyff's name would elicit a smile. I often 'used' it to get access, because it seems, thanks to him, that you always get a friendlier reception as a Dutchman," Hans Biesheuvel, former chairman of the MKB, an umbrella group promoting Dutch small and medium businesses told the AD.
- 'Immortal' -
"Immortal" the Dutch popular daily De Telegraaf said of Cruyff, as it carried a wraparound banner simply featuring a picture of the football great taken from behind, featuring his famous Number 14 jersey.
"For 45 years Dutch footballing fans hung on his every word," the newspaper said.
Fans on Friday called upon officially changing the Amsterdam ArenA -- where the Netherlands and France is to pay tribute at an international friendly later Friday -- to the Johan Cruyff Stadium.
"Cruyff, was a trainer, an oracle and an Ajax revolutionary," said famous Dutch columnist Bert Wagendorp in the centre-left De Volkskrant.
"A gifted football wizard that took the B-nation Dutch to the top of soccer's Olympus -- an icon of an era, a youth hero and the carrier of Dutch dreams," Wagendorp said.
The Christian-based daily Trouw even went as far as comparing Cruyff and Jesus Christ on Easter Friday.
Cruyff was a "saviour, who led us to the promised land of football," the paper said.
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