The Spanish expression tiki-taka (or tiqui-taca) was coined by the local sports press to refer to the neat and exquisite passing game practiced by FC Barcelona and later adopted by the Spanish national football team.

But in order to understand the tiki-taka we need to go back some 28 years ago to Holland. When FC Barcelona signed Johan Cruyff as a coach on May the 4th 1988, Cruyff installed the offensive 3-4-3 tactics developed when he was sports director in Ajax between 1984 and 1985 and imposed it on all the youth categories in Ajax. This tactic requires players with a high technical level, capable of passing rhe ball very quickly as ball possession was and is the rosetta stone of the tiki-taka philosophy.

When Cruyff signed for FC Barcelona on May the 4th 1988 he imported the 3-4-3 system and made FC Barcelona take off after years of depression. The rest is well known: Ajax and barcelona dominated the 90's with an impressive game of technical passing which has had no rival in the world.