Leo Beenhakker (; 2 August 1942 – 10 April 2025) was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level.

After his amateur playing career ended at 19 through injury, he began his coaching career. He won the Eredivisie title twice with Ajax and once with Feyenoord, becoming the only person to do so with both rival teams. In Spain he won three consecutive La Liga titles with Real Madrid in the late 1980s, including one as a double with the Copa del Rey. Additionally, he had brief spells in the top divisions of Switzerland, Mexico and Turkey.

At international level, he led the Netherlands at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Poland at UEFA Euro 2008, the latter two being firsts for both nations.

Early life and playing career

Beenhakker was born in the Charlois neighborhood in Rotterdam on 2 August 1942, during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. After his father's death, he worked as an electrician to support his family. Beenhakker played at amateur clubs , Xerxes and Zwart-Wit '28. His playing career was spent only at amateur levels, and ended at 19 due to injury.

Beenhakker arrived at Real Zaragoza to replace Manolo Villanova during the 1980–81 season, aged 38. His side, which included the likes of Juan Señor, Jorge Valdano and Pichi Alonso, won no trophies during his term, but finished in high league positions including 6th in 1982–83 and 7th a year later.

Volendam and Real Madrid

As manager of Volendam in 1984–85, Beenhakker took the club as high as third place, leading to him being simultaneously named interim manager of the Netherlands national team due to Rinus Michels' heart problems. Volendam finished the season relegated, while the Netherlands finished second to Hungary in their 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification group, before losing a playoff to rivals Belgium on the away goals rule.

He was Real Madrid's most recent manager to win both La Liga and Copa del Rey in the same season. His Real Madrid side was built around La Quinta del Buitre, five academy-trained players centred on forward Emilio Butragueño. In the 1988–89 European Cup, he caused headlines by dropping Butragueño for a European Cup quarter-final second leg against reigning champions PSV Eindhoven, despite the tie being level; Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan eliminated Real Madrid in the semi-finals after winning the second leg 5–0 at the San Siro. In October 1989, Beenhakker fined five of his players 1,000 Dutch guilders each for losing a Netherlands under-21 game against Iceland; Frank de Boer's fine was halved due to only being a substitute in that game.

Beenhakker was named manager of the Netherlands again for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. His side were the reigning European champions of UEFA Euro 1988, and were favoured to do well due to having high-profile players such as Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten. The Oranje were eliminated in the round of 16 without winning a game, with Beenhakker rumoured to have fallen out with Van Basten, and the players wanting Johan Cruyff as manager instead.

Early 1990s

In October 1991, Beenhakker left Ajax and returned to Real Madrid, initially as technical director to support Radomir Antić, but swapped places with him to become manager at the end of January 1992. He left at the end of the season, after finishing in second place. His team missed out on the title on the final day after losing a lead away to Tenerife, while Cruyff's Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao.

In November 1993, Beenhakker was appointed manager of Saudi Arabia, who had qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time. He was sacked just three months later, and four months before the finals in the United States, as the players did not adapt well to his tactics.

1994–2004: Eredivisie return and Mexico

Beenhakker was appointed at Club América in Mexico on 15 June 1994. His team included African players such as François Omam-Biyik of Cameroon and Kalusha Bwalya from Zambia. Despite winning 18 and losing 4 of his 31 matches, he was removed with no official explanation on 6 April 1995. In 2010, he said in an interview that this was because he had argued with club president Emilio Diez Barroso, who did not want Joaquín del Olmo in the team due to the cost of the player.

In 1995, Beenhakker was the manager of İstanbulspor in the Turkish 1. Lig. Returning to Mexico, he led Guadalajara in 1996, taking exactly half of the 84 potential points from matches during his tenure. On 18 February, his team won a Súper Clásico 3–2 against América; losing 2–1 at half time, he motivated the squad by telling them to enjoy the experience at the sold-out game as if they were children.

Beenhakker returned to the Eredivisie with Vitesse in 1996–97. His one season with the club from Arnhem, starting as manager but becoming technical director halfway his first season, resulted in a 5th-place finish and qualification for the UEFA Cup. Moving on to his hometown club Feyenoord in November 1997, he won the league title in 1998–99. He was also responsible for the signing of Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimović from Malmö FF.

In the 2003 Apertura tournament, Beenhakker returned to América. He was sacked with a year remaining of his contract after quarter-final elimination from the 2004 Clausura. He called up 23 foreign-based players for his first training camp, and on 4 June he won on his debut, a 2–0 home victory over Panama. On 13 October, the team won 2–1 at home to Mexico on the final day to make the playoffs at the expense of Guatemala; striker Stern John scored both goals despite earlier missing a penalty.

Beenhakker coached the team to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the country's first-ever World Cup appearance, after a 1–0 win away against Bahrain via a header by Dennis Lawrence as Trinidad and Tobago won 2–1 on aggregate. Beenhakker was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago.

Drawn in the Group B at the World Cup, the team secured a 0–0 draw against Sweden in their first match, and lost to both England and Paraguay 2–0.

Poland

thumb|Beenhakker, decorated in 2008 with the Order of Polonia Restituta

On 11 July 2006, Beenhakker was appointed as the manager of the Poland national team. He succeeded Paweł Janas after the team had also been eliminated from the group stages of the World Cup, and was the first foreigner to lead the national team. He established scouting missions in Germany and the Netherlands so that the team would not lose out on diaspora players.

After Poland defeated Belgium 2–0 on 17 November 2007, he managed to qualify the team for the UEFA European Championship for their first time. Poland won 8 of their 14 qualifying matches.

Following the tournament, Beenhakker's contract was extended until November 2009, the end of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. After Poland's failure to qualify for the tournament in South Africa, Beenhakker was sacked.

Feyenoord

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.

Sparta Rotterdam

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. In March 2018, when Sparta appointed Henk van Stee, Beenhakker left his post and announced his retirement again. In Spain, he was nicknamed Don Leo.

Personal life and death

Beenhakker died in Rotterdam on 10 April 2025, at the age of 82. He had a son and a daughter from his first marriage.

Honours

Ajax

  • Eredivisie: 1979–80, 1989–90
  • Piłka Nożna Foreigner of the Year: 2006
  • Piłka Nożna Man of the Year: 2007