Leo Beenhakker

Leo Beenhakker

Leo Beenhakker in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Leo Beenhakker
Date of birth	(1942-08-02) 2 August 1942
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Team information
Current team	Trinidad and Tobago (director of football)
Managerial career
Years	Team
1965–1967	SV Epe
1967–1968	Go Ahead Eagles (assistant)
1968–1972	BV Veendam
1972–1975	Cambuur
1975–1976	Go Ahead Eagles
1976–1979	Feyenoord (youth)
1979–1981	Ajax
1981–1984	Real Zaragoza
1984–1985	Volendam
1985–1986	Netherlands
1986–1989	Real Madrid
1989–1991	Ajax
1990	Netherlands
1992	Real Madrid
1992–1993	Grasshopper
1993–1994	Saudi Arabia
1994–1995	América
1995	İstanbulspor
1996	Guadalajara
1996–1997	Vitesse
1997–2000	Feyenoord
2000–2003	Ajax (technical director)
2003–2004	América
2004–2005	De Graafschap (technical advisor)
2005–2006	Trinidad and Tobago
2006–2009	Poland
2007	Feyenoord (ad interim)
2009–2011	Feyenoord (technical director)
2011	Újpest (technical director)
2013–	Trinidad and Tobago (director of football)

Leo Beenhakker (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈleːjoː ˈbeːnɦɑkər]; born 2 August 1942 in Rotterdam, South Holland) is an international Dutch football coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led both Ajax and Feyenoord to Dutch championships and also had domestic success with Real Madrid. At international level he led Trinidad and Tobago to the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Poland to the 2008 UEFA European Championship, both firsts for each nation. His role in Spanish football has earned him the nickname Don Leo, largely due to his fondness of cigars and dry humour.

Coaching career

He has been the coach of several prestigious clubs including Ajax, Feyenoord, Real Madrid, Real Zaragoza and Club América. He has also coached the Saudi Arabian and Dutch national teams. He coached the national team of Trinidad and Tobago in the year leading up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Under Beenhakker's guidance the team managed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, where the team secured a (goalless) draw against Sweden in its first match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and gave England cause for concern in the second match.

From 2000 to 2003, Beenhakker was Director of Technical Affairs with Ajax. In that period he fired coach Co Adriaanse and replaced him with Ronald Koeman.

Poland

On 11 July 2006, Beenhakker was appointed as the manager of the Polish national team. Originally, he was appointed to manage Poland until the end of Euro 2008, however, his contract was prolonged until November 2009 and the end of World Cup 2010 qualifiers. On 17 November 2007, beating Belgium 2–0, he managed to qualify with Poland for the European championships – the first coach ever to do so; even in its golden years, the seventies and eighties, Poland never qualified to play in the Euros. On 20 February 2008, he was decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta by the Polish President Lech Kaczyński. The Order can be 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.

Upon Poland's failure to qualify for World Cup 2010, Beenhakker was sacked as coach.

Feyenoord

While still in charge of Poland, Feyenoord hired him on 5 May 2007 as an interim coach to lead the team through the 2006–07 play-offs. After his departure from Poland, he was named the sports director of the Dutch club, having signed a contract on 9 October 2009 up to 30 June 2011.

Újpest FC

Following his spell in the Netherlands, Beenhakker agreed on a three-year deal with Hungarian first division side Újpest FC, 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 is to work with the first team; however, they 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, bought the club.

Languages

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

Managerial honours

Ajax

• Dutch Eredivisie (2): 1979–80, 1989–90

Real Madrid

• La Liga (3): 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
• Copa del Rey (1): 1988–89
• Supercopa de España (2): 1988, 1989*

(* Won Copa del Rey and La Liga)

Feyenoord

• Dutch Eredivisie (1): 1998–99
• Johan Cruijff-schaal (1): 1999

External links

• BDFutbol coach profile (Spanish)

Awards
Preceded by Foppe de Haan	Rinus Michels oeuvre award 2010	Succeeded by Louis van Gaal