Johannes-Franciscus Bonfrère (born 15 June 1946) is a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who spent his playing career with

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eerst ...

. In a long coaching career Bonfrère managed several teams in Africa and Asia. He guided

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

to their victory in the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Playing career

Between 1963 and 1985 Bonfrère scored 50 goals in 335 league appearances for

, his only club.

Coaching career

Nigeria

Bonfrère led

Nigeria national football team The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in men's international Association football, football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners, with their most recent title in ...

to the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

gold medal in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. He was the coach of

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in Egypt in 2002/03 where he lost the league at the final match with a difference of two points. His contract was terminated after that. He also led

to the

2000 African Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field ...

co-hosted by

and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Bonfrère led the Nigerian team to the finals, where they lost to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

by penalties. On 7 June 2018, Jo was offered a 3 bedroom apartment by the Nigerian government as part of the promise made by late General Sanni Abacha after winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics for Nigeria.

Asia and South Korea

He was hired to coach the

South Korea national football team The South Korea national football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in men's international football and is governed by the Korea Football Association. South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia ...

in June 2004 to replace

Humberto Coelho Humberto Manuel de Jesus Coelho (born 20 April 1950) is a Portuguese retired footballer and manager. In a career mainly associated with Benfica, the central defender also competed professionally in France and the United States, during a 16-year ...

, who was forced to quit after a draw with the

Maldives national football team The Maldives national football team (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭ ގައުމީ ފުޓްބޯލް ޓީމް) represents the Maldives in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Maldives. It is a member of the Asi ...

in a

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

. The Dutch coach got off to a promising start by crushing a highly rated German squad of World Cup stars such as

Michael Ballack Michael Ballack (; born 26 September 1976) is a German former professional footballer. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. Ballack wore the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for, except 1. FC ...

and

Oliver Kahn Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in t ...

, 3–1, with a young Korean team in a friendly match in December 2004. In 2005, South Korea qualified for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

under him, but a string of disappointing losses thereafter fueled fan and media ire against Bonfrère. He resigned on 23 August that year after poor results in the

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the Eas ...

and a World Cup qualifier loss against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Korea Football Association The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with F ...

then hired

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...

as its third Dutch coach, and Advocaat angered his predecessor by saying he will be another

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

, not Bonfrère. Bonfrère joined former

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

champions

Dalian Shide Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then lat ...

on a one-year contract in the 2007 league season. Despite the team finishing fifth in the league, they were never in contention to win the title and opted not to extend his contract. On 29 June 2011, another

club

Henan Construction Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye Football Club (), is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team ...

announced that Bonfrère would lead the team on a 1+1 contract and fight for staying in the Super League. In February 2015, Bonfrère was added to the MVV youth team staff. On 25 May 2017,

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

club

Baoding Yingli ETS Baoding Yingli ETS () is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Baoding, Hebei and their home stadium is the 13,000 ...

signed a one-year contract with Bonfrère.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonfrère, Jo 1946 births Living people People from Eijsden-Margraten Dutch people of French descent Men's association football midfielders Dutch footballers Eredivisie players MVV Maastricht players Dutch football managers MVV Maastricht managers Nigeria national football team managers Qatar national football team managers Al Wahda FC managers United Arab Emirates national football team managers Al Ahly SC managers South Korea national football team managers Dalian Shide F.C. managers Henan F.C. managers Dutch expatriate football managers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Nigeria Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Egypt Expatriate football managers in South Korea Expatriate football managers in China 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 2004 AFC Asian Cup managers Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Nigeria 2000 African Cup of Nations managers Nigeria women's national football team managers Footballers from Limburg (Netherlands) Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Dutch expatriate sportspeople in China Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium