Leo Beenhakker CM (; born 2 August 1942) is a Dutch international football coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led both

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

and

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

to Dutch championships and also had domestic success with Real Madrid. At international level, he led

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

to 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 th ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

, both firsts for each nation. His role in Spanish football has earned him the nickname ''

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

Leo'', largely due to his fondness of cigars and dry humour.

Coaching career

Beenhakker has been the coach of several prestigious clubs including

, Real Madrid,

SC Veendam Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 an ...

Club America Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprise ...

and

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

. He has also coached the national teams of

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 ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He coached the Trinidad and Tobago national team in the year leading up to the

. Under Beenhakker's guidance, the team secured a 0–0 draw against Sweden in their first match, and gave

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

cause for concern in the second match. From 2000 to 2003, Beenhakker was director of technical affairs with Ajax. In that period, he fired head coach Co Adriaanse and replaced him with Ronald Koeman.

Poland

On 11 July 2006, Beenhakker was appointed as the manager of the Poland national team. Originally, he was appointed to manage Poland until the end of

, however his contract was extended until November 2009, the end of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. On 17 November 2007, after Poland defeated Belgium national football team, Belgium 2–0, he managed to qualify Poland for the UEFA European Championship for their first time – even in Poland's "golden years" of the 1970s and '80s, the nation never qualified for the Euro final stages. On 20 February 2008, Beenhakker was decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta by President of Poland Lech Kaczyński. The Order is conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries. However, after Poland's failure to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2010 World Cup, Beenhakker was sacked.

Feyenoord

While still in charge of Poland,

hired Beenhakker on 5 May 2007 as an interim coach to lead the club through the 2006–07 play-offs. After his departure from Poland, he was named the sports director of the club, signing a contract on 9 October 2009 lasting until 30 June 2011.

Újpest

Following his spell in the Netherlands, Beenhakker agreed on a three-year deal with Hungarian first division side Újpest FC, Újpest, and was officially introduced as the new sports director of ''the purple-whites'' in a press conference on 29 July 2011. As managing director Csaba Bartha revealed, Beenhakker's main duty was to work with the first team. However, the club also intended to use his diverse and extensive personal relationships to establish a scouting network across Europe, which could be used in both directions. His contract was terminated in October 2011, after Belgian businessman Roderick Duchatelet, son of Roland Duchâtelet, purchased the club. In December 2013, Beenhakker was appointed technical director at Sparta Rotterdam, a position he held on to until June 2015, before announcing his retirement from football. In November 2017, he joined the Sparta board as a technical advisor, which he did voluntarily until Sparta found a technical director. When in March 2018 Sparta appointed Henk van Stee, Beenhakker left his spot and announced his retirement again.

Languages

Beenhakker speaks several languages, including Dutch language, Dutch, English language, English and Spanish language, Spanish. He also learned a few words in Polish language, Polish during his time as national team manager.

Personal life

As coach of Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Trinidad and Tobago squad that competed at the

in Germany, Beenhakker was awarded the Chaconia Medal, Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest Orders, decorations, and medals of Trinidad and Tobago, state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago.

Honours

Ajax * Eredivisie: 1979–80 Eredivisie, 1979–80, 1989–90 Eredivisie, 1989–90 Real Madrid * La Liga: 1986–87 La Liga, 1986–87, 1987–88 La Liga, 1987–88, 1988–89 La Liga, 1988–89 * Copa del Rey: 1988–89 Copa del Rey, 1988–89 * Supercopa de España: 1988 Supercopa de España, 1988, 1989* :(* ''Won Copa del Rey and La Liga'') Feyenoord * Eredivisie: 1998–99 Eredivisie, 1998–99 * Johan Cruyff Shield: 1999 Johan Cruyff Shield, 1999 Individual * TTO Chaconia Medal ribbon

Chaconia Medal, Gold Class: 2006 * POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Order of Polonia Restituta, Officer's Cross: 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beenhakker, Leo 1942 births Living people Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch footballers Association footballers not categorized by position Zwart-Wit '28 players Dutch football managers Go Ahead Eagles non-playing staff SC Veendam managers SC Cambuur managers Go Ahead Eagles managers Feyenoord non-playing staff AFC Ajax non-playing staff AFC Ajax managers Real Zaragoza managers FC Volendam managers Netherlands national football team managers Real Madrid CF managers Grasshopper Club Zürich managers Saudi Arabia national football team managers Club América managers İstanbulspor managers C.D. Guadalajara managers SBV Vitesse managers Feyenoord managers Directors of football clubs in the Netherlands De Graafschap non-playing staff Trinidad and Tobago national football team managers Poland national football team managers Sparta Rotterdam non-playing staff Eerste Divisie managers Eredivisie managers La Liga managers Swiss Super League managers Liga MX managers Süper Lig managers Rinus Michels Award winners Recipients of the Chaconia Medal 1990 FIFA World Cup managers 2006 FIFA World Cup managers UEFA Euro 2008 managers Dutch expatriate football managers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Trinidad and Tobago Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Poland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Trinidad and Tobago Expatriate football managers in Poland Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta