Jo Bonfrère

Dutch footballer and manager

Johannes-Franciscus Bonfrère (born 15 June 1946) is a Dutch football coach. He was also a midfielder. He played for MVV Maastricht. He has coached for many times in Africa and Asia. He led Nigeria to their victory in the 1996 Olympic Games.

Jo Bonfrère
Bonfrère in 1966
Personal information
Full name Johannes-Franciscus Bonfrère
Date of birth (1946-06-15) 15 June 1946 (age 78)
Place of birth Eijsden, Limburg, Netherlands
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1985 MVV 335 (50)
Teams managed
1983 MVV
1985 MVV
1988–1990 Verbroedering Geel
1991 Nigeria Women
1992–1993 Verbroedering Geel
1995–1996 Nigeria
1996–1997 Qatar
1998 Al-Wahda
1999–2001 Nigeria
2001–2002 Al-Wahda
2001–2002 United Arab Emirates
2002–2003 Al Ahly
2004–2005 South Korea
2007 Dalian Shide
2007–2008 Al-Wahda
2011 Henan Jianye
2017 Baoding Yingli ETS
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Nigeria (as manager)
Olympic Games
First place 1996
Africa Cup of Nations
Runner-up 2000
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

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From 1963 to 1985, Bonfrère only played in the MVV Maastricht club. He scored 50 goals and played 335 league games[1]

Coaching career

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Nigeria

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Bonfrère helped the Nigeria national football team in the 1996 Summer Olympics win the gold medal.[2] In 2002-03, he was the coach of Al Ahly in Egypt. Al Ahly lost the league at the final match. They only lost by two points. Bonfrère's contract ended after that.

He also led Nigeria to the 2000 African Cup of Nations. The Nigerian team went to the finals. They lost to Cameroon by penalties.

On 7 June 2018, the Nigerian government gave Jo a 3 bedroom apartment for helping Nigeria win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.

Asia and South Korea

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In June 2004, South Korea national football team drew to the Maldives national football team in a FIFA World Cup qualification. Their coach Humberto Coelho was forced to quit. Bonfrère became the coach for the team.

With his coaching, the team at first did well. They beat a very good German Squad in December 2004.

In 2005, South Korea qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup under him. However, his team lost many times in a row after that.[3] The team did badly in the 2005 East Asian Football Championship. They then lost a World Cup qualifier loss against Saudi Arabia. He resigned from the team after that.

Bonfrère joined Dalian Shide on a one-year contract for a Chinese league in the 2007 season. The team finished fifth in the league, and they were not expected to win a title.

On 29 June 2011, Chinese Super League club Henan Construction made Bonfrère the coach.

In February 2015, Bonfrère was added to the MVV youth team staff.[4]

On 25 May 2017, China League One club Baoding Yingli ETS signed a contract with Bonfrère.[5]

References

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  1. "Jo Bonfrère" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  2. "Jo Bonfrere want a come back to Nigeria". 2009-10-26. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011.
  3. "People's Daily Online -- KFA to discuss fate of head coach Jo Bonfrere". english.people.com.cn. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  4. Jo Bonfrère en Johan Dijkstra sluiten aan bij technische staf MVV A1 – MVV (in Dutch)
  5. 官方:保定容大与荷兰名帅邦弗雷雷签约一年. sports.sina.com.cn (in Chinese). 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.