Christian Benítez

Club

_Deceased Soccer

Position

Forward

Nationality

Ecuador

Date of birth

1986-05-01

Birthplace

Quito, Ecuador

Height

1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)

Christian Rogelio Benítez Betancourt (May 1, 1986 – July 29, 2013), also known as Chucho, was an Ecuadorian footballer who played as a forward for El Jaish of the Qatar Stars League at the time of his death.

He began his career with El Nacional in Ecuador and then joined Santos Laguna, with whom he won the award for Best Player of the Clausura 2008. He spent the 2009–10 season on loan to Premier League club Birmingham City, and then moved to Club América for a Mexican record US$10 million, where he was a regular scorer. Benitez played 58 times for the Ecuador national football team from his debut in 2005, scoring 24 goals. He played for them at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and two Copa America tournaments.

Following his death, the Ecuadorian Football Federation retired Benítez's number 11 jersey from the national team. However, due to FIFA regulations they had to reinstate it for the 2014 World Cup squad.