Leo Beenhakker

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.

Playing career

A right winger, Beenhakker played only for amateur clubs, and he joined Maasstad Tediro in 1954; he made his senior debut in 1957 at the age of 15. He then joined Xerxes in 1958 and suffered a knee injury in 1961 while playing for Xerxes which later ended his playing career. He went into mandatory military service with the Dutch Air Force and while working as an electrician, he attempted a return to playing football during the 1964–65 season, joining Zwart-Wit '28. He retired in 1965 at the age of 23 as a result of the knee injury.

Early career

Beenhakker began coaching Epe in 1965 before his breakthrough at Ajax, where he won the Eredivisie in his debut season in 1979–80. He also gave Frank Rijkaard his professional debut and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. 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…

Simon Kuper, author of several books on Dutch football, opined that Beenhakker lacked the tactical knowledge for elite players, but made up for it with his speaking skills. Beenhakker faced scrutiny for never having been a professional player, responding that a milkman does not need experience of being a cow. Johan Cruyff chided Beenhakker as a "schoolteacher" for not having professional playing experience. While an advisor at Ajax, Cruyff broke protocol and ordered Beenhakker to change tactics; Beenhakker later reflected that he should have punched Cruyff for this intervention. Zlatan Ibrahimović praised Beenhakker in his autobiography I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović. Ibrahimović described Beenhakker's image as a "mafioso", a "dominant figure and decision maker", and a "harder" version of Emmett Brown from Back to the Future. In Spain, he was nicknamed Don Leo. Trinidad and Tobago players Dwight Yorke and Kelvin Jack reflected that Beenhakker was a great leader of their team. Joachim Löw said that Beenhakker's Poland team that his Germany side faced at Euro 2008 played in an attacking manner similar to the Netherlands. He added that they were much stronger than the Poland team Germany had defeated at the 2006 World Cup.

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