 Beenhakker in 1986 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1942-08-02)2 August 1942 (age 82) | ||
| Place of birth | Rotterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Position(s) | Right winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| SC Maasstad Tediro [nl] | |||
| XerxesDZB | |||
| Zwart-Wit '28 | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1965–1967 | SV Epe | ||
| 1967–1968 | Go Ahead Eagles (assistant) | ||
| 1968–1972 | BV Veendam | ||
| 1972–1975 | Cambuur | ||
| 1975–1976 | Go Ahead Eagles | ||
| 1976–1978 | Feyenoord (youth) | ||
| 1978–1979 | Ajax (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 | Grasshoppers | ||
| 1993–1994 | Saudi Arabia | ||
| 1994–1995 | América | ||
| 1995 | İstanbulspor | ||
| 1996 | Guadalajara | ||
| 1996–1997 | Vitesse | ||
| 1997–2000 | Feyenoord | ||
| 2000–2003 | Ajax (technical director) | ||
| 2003–2004 | Club 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) | ||
| 2013–2015 | Trinidad and Tobago (director of football) | ||
| 2013–2015 | Sparta Rotterdam (technical director) | ||
| 2017–2018 | Sparta Rotterdam (technical advisor) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Leo BeenhakkerCM (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈleːjoːˈbeːnɦɑkər]; born 2 August 1942) is a Dutchfootball coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led bothAjax andFeyenoord to Dutch championships and also had domestic success withReal Madrid. At international level, he ledTrinidad and Tobago to the2006 FIFA World Cup andPoland toUEFA Euro 2008, both firsts for each nation. His role in Spanish football has earned him the nicknameDon Leo, largely due to his fondness ofcigars anddry humour.
Aright winger,[1] Beenhakker played at amateur clubsSC Maasstad Tediro [nl],XerxesDZB andZwart-Wit '28.[2]
Beenhakker has been the coach of several prestigious clubs includingAjax,Feyenoord,Real Madrid,SC Veendam,Club America andReal Zaragoza. He has also coached the national teams ofSaudi Arabia,Trinidad and Tobago national team,Poland and theNetherlands.
From 2000 to 2003, Beenhakker was director of technical affairs with Ajax. In that period, he fired head coachCo Adriaanse and replaced him withRonald Koeman.
On May 2005, he was appointed head coach of Trinidad and Tobago. During his tenure, he coached the team to qualify for the2006 FIFA World Cup, the country's first-ever World Cup appearance, after a famous 1–0 win away againstBahrain via a header byDennis Lawrence as Trinidad and Tobago won 2–1 on aggregate.
Under Beenhakker's guidance in the World Cup, the team secured a 0–0 draw againstSweden in their first match, and gaveEngland cause for concern in the second match.
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 ofUEFA Euro 2008, however his contract was extended until November 2009, the end ofqualifying for the 2010 World Cup. On 17 November 2007, after Poland defeatedBelgium 2–0, he managed to qualify Poland for theUEFA 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 ofPolonia Restituta byPresident of PolandLech Kaczyński.[3] 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 the2010 World Cup, Beenhakker was sacked.[4]
While still in charge of Poland,Feyenoord 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.[5]
Following his spell in the Netherlands, Beenhakker agreed on a three-year deal with Hungarian first division sideÚjpest, and was officially introduced as the new sports director ofthe purple-whites in a press conference on 29 July 2011.[6] 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.[7] His contract was terminated in October 2011, after Belgian businessman Roderick Duchatelet, son ofRoland Duchâtelet, purchased the club.
In December 2013, Beenhakker was appointed technical director atSparta 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 appointedHenk van Stee, Beenhakker left his spot and announced his retirement again.
As coach ofthe Trinidad and Tobago squad that competed at the2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Beenhakker was awarded theChaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second higheststate decoration of Trinidad and Tobago.[8]
Ajax
Real Madrid
Feyenoord
Individual
Chaconia Medal, Gold Class: 2006
Order of Polonia Restituta, Officer's Cross: 2008[3]
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