Johan Cruyff and Fernando Ricksen open Cruyff Court in memory of Stefano Borgonovo
Johan Cruyff opened together with Chantal Borgonovo, wife of Stefano Borgonovo, and Fernando Ricksen, former striker of Glasgow Rangers, the first Cruyff Court in Italy, which is dedicated to Stefano Borgonovo. The Cruyff Court Stefano Borgonovo in Como, Italy. This Cruyff Court is a joined initiative of the Cruyff Foundation and the Borgonovo Foundation and greatly supported by the UEFA.TenCate Grass supplies the Johan Cruyff Foundation with the synthetic turf for the Cruyff Courts, and is intensifying its cooperation in the Netherlands and internationally with the Johan Cruyff Foundation.
A year ago, former Milan and Fiorentina striker Borgonovo, who won the Champions League with Milan and earned three caps for the Italian national team, died aged 49 following an eight-year battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).
If Stefano Borgonovo was still alive today he would describe himself as the happiest man on earth. Not just because he would finally come to know the man he admired when he was a kid, but also because the idol of his childhood has opened a Cruyff Court in the town where Stefano celebrated his first triumphs as a professional player.
“A dream comes true”, says his wife Chantal. “My husband went crazy for Johan Cruyff. He admired him so much that he dedicated him a chapter of his autobiography. Even Stefano’s football school has the orange colour in its emblem as a tribute to Cruyff. He would have loved to know Johan personally. I am extremely happy and grateful to Johan because, thanks to the opening of the Cruyff Court in Como, the spirit of Stefano will be even stronger with us.”
Cruyff said: “This is a very special day for me as well. I am happy to open the first Cruyff Court in Italy and it makes me particularly proud that this court is dedicated to Stefano. It might be that Stefano tried to copy me as a kid. Stefano was an outstanding personality – on and off the pitch. I hope that with this teamwork between both Foundations and through this Cruyff Court in Stefano’s name, we can generate attention to find a cure for this terrible disease.”
The Johan Cruyff Foundation was founded by the legendary Johan Cruyff. The Cruyff Foundation is regarded as a major authority on sports for children – including disabled children – and related community projects. A Cruyff Court is a modern alternative of the ancient green, which one could find in a lot of neighborhoods and districts, but has over the years been sacrificed due to urbanization and expansion. The local children get a good safe place where they can play sport and through the cooperation of the local council, corporations, schools, sport and football clubs and local businesses, the Cruyff Court also has an important social function in the neighborhood.
The Cruyff Courts are made of the durable TenCate XP Blade™. TenCate XP Blade™ does not split, making it the right choice for intensively used fields. In addition TenCate XP Blade™ is more resilient than regular tape yarns: instead of laying flat like other tape yarns do, TenCate XP Blade™ twists due to play forming an attractive and well playable turf surface.
