Tributes have been pouring in from far and wide at the news of the death on Thursday of legendary trainer Leo Beenhakker at age 82.

Beenhakker became a trainer at the age of 26 at Veendam, starting a career that would span 50 years. During that time, he coached four national teams, including two stints as trainer of the Dutch national eleven, and numerous foreign clubs.

Among his accolades are national championships for both Ajax, in 1979 and 1989, and its eternal competitor, Feyenoord, the club of his native Rotterdam, in 1999.  “He bought off his contract with Vitesse with his own money. That’s how much he wanted to come to Feyenoord, ” former Feyenoord chairman Jorien van den Herik said.

At Ajax, he famously crossed swords with the then technical director Johan Cruyff, who descended from the stand to tell him to substitute Tscheu La Ling. The club was down two goals against FC Twente. Beenhakker ignored his advice, and the player scored twice, and the game was won 5-3. “But Johan is welcome to the credits,” he said, mocking Cruyff’s famously cocky ways.

It wasn’t their only run-in. In 1990, when Beenhakker became trainer of the Dutch national team in the World Championship when the players preferred Johan Cruyff. The team was beaten by West Germany, which won the tournament.

But Beenhakker went from triumph to triumph in Spain, where he took Real Madrid to the national title three times in the Eighties, earning him the nickname Don Leo.

The club called Beenhakker an “histórico entrenador” while Real Zaragoza, where he was Mister between 1981 and 1984, said he had had “an extraordinary career”.

Former Club América goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa wrote “his soul hurt” at the news of Beenhakker’s death. “Thank you, mister Leo Beenhakker, for believing in me when I only just started out and for giving me the chance to make my debut and for supporting my first steps as a professional player,” he wrote on X.

Beenhakker was known for his sometimes cynical humour, and his comments were often accompanied by a sigh. He famously answered “Haben sie eine Stunde?” when asked what was wrong with German football after Feyenoord beat Stuttgart 3-1. He also coined the term Patatgeneratie (chips generation) for the football players who came to the fore in the Eighties and who he thought were too lazy.