Name: Leo Beenhakker

Date of Brith: 02/08/1942

Country: Trinidad and Tobago

Club:

Position: Coach

Number: 0

Caps: -

Goals: -

Coaching Career

International Side:
- 1985-1986 Netherlands
- 1990 Netherlands
- 1993-1994 Saudi Arabia
- Since 2005 Trinidad and Tobago

Clubs:
- 1967-68 Go Ahead Eagles (NED) - Assistant coach
- 1968-72 VV Veendam (NED) - Assistant coach
- 1972-75 SC Cambuur (NED)
- 1975-76 Go Ahead Eagles (NED)
- 1976-78 Feyenoord (NED)
- 1978-81 Ajax (NED)
- 1981-84 Real Zaragoza (ESP)
- 1984-85 FC Volendam (NED)
- 1986-89 Real Madrid (ESP)
- 1989-91 Ajax (NED)
- 1991-92 Real Madrid (ESP)
- 1992-93 Grasshoppers (SUI)
- 1994-95 America (MEX)
- 1995 Istanbulspor (TUR)
- 1995-96 Guadalajara (MEX)
- 1996-97 Vitesse (NED)
- 1997-2000 Feyenoord (NED)
- 2003-04 America (MEX)
- 2004 Al Ittihad (KSA)

Nationality : Dutch

Leo Beenhakker is from the old school of football management. Rarely seen without a cigar between his teeth, this much-travelled man of many jobs continues to find steady employment at the age of 63 due largely to his renowned man-management abilities. He is hardly short on experience either, having spent fully four decades in the dugout and on the training ground, honing his coaching skills.

Beenhakker has had a nomadic managerial career and his latest journey has taken him to the Caribbean dual-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, the smallest-ever country to qualify for a FIFA World Cup� finals. Beenhakker, who took over from Bertille St Clair midway through the qualifying campaign, was responsible for a turnaround in T&T�s fortunes that saw them secure a fourth-placed finish in the CONCACAF Zone and, in the process, a play-off with Asia�s fifth-placed team, Bahrain.

A dramatic victory followed and, once the dust had settled, players and fans alike were quick to attribute credit for this remarkable feat primarily to their Dutch trainer. �I can't give enough credit to Leo Beenhakker,� goalkeeper Kelvin Jack said. �He has brought a level of professionalism and a level of belief� a belief that we could compete at this level.�

Born in Rotterdam in 1942, Beenhakker�s coaching career began at a young age and in 1972 he took over at SC Cambuur in Holland before later moving on to another modest Dutch outfit, Go Ahead Eagles. His success with these two provincial clubs prompted Ajax to sit up and take notice and in 1979 Beenhakker was named head coach of the Amsterdam club, with whom he served a two-season term. His achievements there included winning the title in his first season and introducing to the side a young Frank Rijkaard.

Next up for Beenhakker was a move to Spain, where he coached Real Zaragoza from 1981-84 before returning to his homeland with Volendam. He then held the reins of the Netherlands national team for a short spell between 1985 and �86.

Later that year, Real Madrid came calling and, unable to resist the lure of the Bernabeu, Beenhakker returned to Spain and duly led the Merengues to three successive league titles. It was after the third of these, in a season that had also seen Madrid lift the Spanish Cup, that he surprised everyone by upping sticks once again.

Ajax had succeeded in tempting him back to the Netherlands, yet his second spell with the Amsterdam club mirrored his first, with a title-winning first season followed by a second term that ended with Beenhakker empty-handed and out of a job. By this point, the Dutchman�s coaching credentials and propensity towards living out of a suitcase were both well established.

He was, though, only getting started. He had recently led the Dutch national team into the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy while still on Ajax�s books and, despite leaving the post disappointed following a disappointing second-round exit, the job offers continued to flood in.

In September 1991, he returned for a short and ill-fated second spell with Real Madrid and, from there, spent the next decade globetrotting, taking jobs with Swiss club Grasshoppers, the Saudi Arabia national team, Club America and Chivas in Mexico, Turkey�s Istanbulspor and Vitesse Arnhem and Feyenoord back in the Netherlands.

Directorial roles followed with both Ajax and De Graafschap, but now Beenhakker is back at the sharp end with Trinidad and Tobago. Few fancy the Caribbean islanders� chances of upsetting their heavyweight group opponents in Germany but, with such an experienced tactician guiding T&T�s fortunes, England, Sweden and Paraguay would be well advised not to underestimate them.

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