A tribute to former Premier League striker Christian Benitez (Video)
The terrible news that Ecuadorian footballer Christian ‘Chucho’ Benitez had died suddenly at the age of 27 was confirmed on Monday, to the shock of the football world. He had only recently left Mexico to sign for Qatari side El Jaish, which is where the incident occurred after his debut match for the club.
Benitez was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1986 and played for El Nacional between 2004 and 2007, winning two championships in the process. His 29 league goals during his time in the capital attracted the interest of Mexican side Santos Laguna and he signed a contract with them in the summer of 2007. Another championship medal was won in 2008, largely thanks to Benitez’s goals, and he began to receive interest from several European clubs, although no concrete offer was made.
Eventually he did make his way to Europe and his destination was England. Birmingham City had agreed to a loan deal with the potential for a club record transfer depending on whether he could allay fears regarding a suspected knee problem. He only scored four goals for the blues in the 2009/2010 season and was subsequently returned to Mexico, to his former club, after failing to live up to expectations.
A year later and he was on the move again, this time to rival Mexican side Club America for a fee believed to be around the $10m mark. He returned to his previous goal scoring form and up until the end of the 2013 tournament he had been top scorer for the previous three consecutive campaigns. Just a few months ago he was once again celebrating victory as his club lifted the Clausura trophy after defeating Cruz Azul in a penalty shootout.
His transfer to Qatar was completed on July 6th and he played his first match for El Jaish on Sunday in a cup game against Qatar SC. The following day he complained of severe abdominal pain and was admitted to a hospital in Doha. Whilst waiting to be attended to, he suffered respiratory failure and went into a coma. Regrettably, he couldn’t recover from this and the cause of death was attributed to a heart attack. Once again we have seen an apparently fit and healthy player suddenly suffer from a previously undetected heart condition, although Benitez wasn’t to be as lucky as Fabrice Muamba.
He was adored by fellow professionals and fans for his character and ability in front of goal. Here is a selection of his finest goals for us to remember him by. RIP Chucho.
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