Sports Poets Society

Late Trinidad and Tobago head coach Leo Beenhakker at the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. (via TTFA Media.) https://wired868.com/2025/04/10/id-run-through-a-wall-for-don-leo-tt-players-and-staff-remember-leo-beenhakker/ Lasana Liburd  - Wired868.com Thursday 10 April 2025  Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker passed away today at the age of 82. Beenhakker won three titles at the helm of Real Madrid, lifted silverware with arch-rivals Ajax and Feyenoord, led Holland to the 1990 World Cup and steered Poland to their first ever European finals, the UEFA Euro 2008. However, in Trinidad and Tobago, ‘Don Leo’ is remembered most fondly for taking the Soca Warriors to the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Soca Warriors’ appearance in Germany made the two-island republic the smallest nation ever to play in a senior Fifa tournament at the time and earned Beenhakker the Chaconia Medal, which is Trinidad and Tobago’s second-highest national award. Beenhakker later returned briefly in 2013 when he serve...

Pogacar ancora tu «ardenne, che sfida» oggi all’Amstel riparte la caccia In Olanda l’iridato rientra dopo la Roubaix: ha la nuova bici e punta anche a Freccia e Liegi Grande attesa per il duello con Evenepoel di Ciro Scognamiglio @cirogazzetta  La Gazzetta dello Sport - Domenica 20 Aprile 2025 Pagina 51 Cambiano avversari e scenari, panorami e percorsi. Cambia tutto, o quasi, ma quella sagoma dai riflessi arcobaleno che o vince oppure ci va vicino c’è sempre. Tadej Pogacar ha accarezzato la Milano-Sanremo (3°), dominato il Giro delle Fiandre, chiuso secondo al debutto la Parigi-Roubaix, ma non è (ancora) andato in vacanza prima di cominciare a preparare il Tour de France. Tutt’altro: dei grandi appuntamenti di un giorno di primavera non se ne vuole perdere neppure uno. Oggi all’Amstel Gold Race, via ufficiale della campagna delle Ardenne, il campione del mondo avrà il numero 41 sulla schiena e il ruolo ormai consueto di uomo da battere. Stessa storia mercoledì alla Freccia Vallone,...

FOTO TIM DE WAELE De roemruchte Cauberg keert zondag terug als slotklim in de Amstel Goldrace. Wat maakt deze helling – zeker niet de mooiste in Zuid-limburg – toch zo aantrekkelijk voor de wielersport? "Een Goldrace zonder Cauberg, vanwege de centen?  Dat zou verschrikkelijk zijn, dat kán niet"    - Levien Spits auteur van drie boeken over de Cauberg 19 Apr 2025 - NRC Thijs Niemantsverdriet  VALKENBURG AAN DE GEUL - Bij die putdeksel, dáár is het. Op eenderde van de Cauberg, net voorbij de eerste bocht, wijst Levien Spits naar de overzijde van de weg. Dit is de plek waar de klim op z’n steilst is: 12 procent. Met het blote oog kun je dat niet zien, maar hij was er zelf bij toen het werd vastgesteld. In 1991, met een ouderwetse waterpas, door twee Belgische fietsfanaten die alle hellingen in de omgeving in kaart brachten. „Ze kwamen uit op 11,8 procent. En dan mag je afronden naar boven.”  Er bestaat niemand die méér weet van de Cauberg dan Levien Spits (79). Ma...

Bataille royale Sans Mathieu van der Poel, qui a décidé de couper depuis Roubaix, Tadej Pogacar va croiser à nouveau le chemin du revenant et surmotivé Remco Evenepoel.  Pour la première fois depuis le Tour de Lombardie en octobre dernier où le Slovène avait dominé le Bel 20 Apr 2025 - L'Équipe PHILIPPE LE GARS MAASTRICHT (HOL) – Difficile de mentir, il va nous manquer un petit truc toutcetaprès-midiquandlescoureurs vont aborder les cent derniers kilomètres, ce point de bascule où les dingos Pogacar et Van der Poel ont pris pour habitude de secouer le peloton pour faire leur premier ménage comme sur le Tour des Flandres ou Paris-Roubaix. Ce petit coup de folie qui rend les courses totalement débridées mais tellement excitantes. L’absence de Mathieu Van der Poel, héros de la Via Roma et du vélodrome de Roubaix, va laisser un vide indéniable mais qui pourrait être compensé par la présence presque inattendue de Remco Evenepoel, qui a mis dans le mille dès son retour vendredi du côté d...

The soccer coach Leo Beenhakker in 2006, the year he led Trinidad and Tobago to the World Cup. He also coached Real Madrid and his native Netherlands.  Credit... Matt Dunham/Associated Press Among many other accomplishments, he led tiny Trinidad and Tobago to the World Cup and Poland to its first appearance in the European championships. By Jeré Longman April 16, 2025 Leo Beenhakker, a globe-trotting soccer coach who managed his native Netherlands during the 1990 World Cup, won three Spanish League titles with Real Madrid in the 1980s and, perhaps most impressively and improbably, guided Trinidad and Tobago to the 2006 World Cup as the smallest nation at the time ever to compete in soccer’s global championship, died on April 10. He was 82. His death was announced by the Dutch soccer federation and by Ajax, the powerful Amsterdam club that Beenhakker coached to two Dutch League titles. The announcement did not cite a cause or say where he died. His own playing career, as a winger, ...