It was June 17: Johan Cruyff in Rouge et Bleu!

Daniel Hechter invited along his friend Johan Cruyff, then a Barcelona player. The Dutch star was supported in the tournament by Dragan Dzajic, Bastia's Yugoslav forward.

The 25,000 spectators in attendance for the semi-final of the tournament against Sporting Portugal have eyes only for the "Flying Dutchman", the nickname given to Cruyff when he started out at Ajax. 

Paris Saint-Germain start strongly, with a magnificent first goal: Jacky Novi wins the ball in midfield and passes to Johan Cruyff on the right who rids himself of a defender with a nutmeg before crossing towards François M’Pelé. The Congolese marksman heads the ball to Eric Renaut and he opens the scoring (5'). The advantage does't last long: after Marinho gets clear, Ilija Pantelic can't hold the ball and Nelson equalises (10'). The match is full of rhythm with the two teams holding marvellous defensive lines. Sporting have the better scoring chances through Yazalde (14'), Nelson (23') and Marinho (32') but it's Paris Saint-Germain going clear on the scoresheet just before the hour. After an exchange of passes with Poli, Jean-Pierre Dogliani finds himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Damas and scores the second Paris goal (56'). Then, straight after, Mustapha Dahleb obtains a corner, wonderfully taken by Johan Cruyff who finds the head of François M’Pelé (57').

Paris Saint-Germain score a deserved win and Robert Vicot, assistant coach to Just Fontaine, has this analysis of his team's performance: "My players were overwhelmed by Cruff at the start of the game, they almost had a complex... Then in the second half they freed themselves up."

Jean-Pierre Dogliani is won over by the Dutchman: "His game intelligence is remarkable, and as at Paris Saint-Germain we play collective and rational football there was no problem with this great player as his conception of the game is sound and focused on the team."

François M’Pelé is also under Cruyff's spell: "What a great player! Before taking the corner, he made a little sign to me and asked me to come over in order for him to explain to me that he was going to pick out my head... The ball arrived as promised and I scored a goal!"