Gustavo Benítez (born 5 February 1953) is a retired
Paraguayan
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
defender and
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
.
Playing career
As a player, Benítez won several national championships with
Olimpia Asunción
Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most su ...
, where he was a key part of the defence.
He also made 42 appearances for the
Paraguay national football team, and competed at the
1987 Copa América
The 1987 Copa América was the 33rd edition of the Copa América, CONMEBOL's national team competition. It was the first Copa América under the new rotational hosting system. Argentina, as the first country alphabetically, hosted the tournament ...
in Argentina.
Coaching career
After retiring from football as a player he became a coach. At Chilean club
Colo-Colo, he won three Chilean league championships (1996, 1997, 1998) and one Copa Chile (1996).
In January 1999, Benítez replaced the sacked
Nando Yosu at the helm of Spanish
La Liga club
Racing de Santander, and saved the team from relegation. He resigned at the end of the following season, after a second consecutive 15th-place finish caused some dissent from the fans; his Russian striker
Vladimir Beschastnykh told his country's ''
Sport Express'' in January 2000 that he wanted the
Cantabrians to lose so that Benítez could be dismissed.
Benítez returned to the
Estadio El Sardinero
Campos de Sport de El Sardinero ("El Sardinero Sport Fields"), or simply El Sardinero, is a multi-purpose stadium in Santander, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches, serving as the home ground of the former La Liga side Racing ...
in March 2001 after the dismissal of
Gregorio Manzano, for what remained of the season plus two more. However, he lost his job on 5 October after a poor start to the
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
campaign following relegation, and was replaced by
Quique Setién
Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is the current manager of La Liga club Villarreal.
As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', an ...
.
In February 2003, Benítez was back in Spain's top flight, taking over a
Rayo Vallecano team placed in 18th. After winning twice in ten games, putting the team into their eventual last position, he was dismissed on 14 April and
Antonio Iriondo appointed.
On 1 April 2010 CD Palestino officials hired the former Cobreloa and Colo-Colo coach to replace Jorge Aravena who quit about two weeks ago.
Benítez presentado en Palestino: "A lo mejor conmigo tienen más suerte"
/ref>
References
External links
at BDFutbol
at BDFutbol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Gustavo
1953 births
Living people
People from Paraguarí
Paraguayan footballers
Paraguay international footballers
Paraguayan football managers
Atlético Nacional footballers
Club Olimpia footballers
Club Olimpia managers
Colo-Colo managers
Cobreloa managers
Club Deportivo Palestino managers
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate footballers in Colombia
Expatriate football managers in Chile
Racing de Santander managers
Rayo Vallecano managers
La Liga managers
La Liga players
Granada CF footballers
Paraguayan Primera División players
Categoría Primera A players
1975 Copa América players
1987 Copa América players
Association football defenders