Jair Benítez Sinisterra (born 11 January 1980) is a Colombian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Career

Professional

Benítez has spent the majority of his career playing professionally in Colombia, having played 344 games and scoring 19 goals in Colombia's

Fútbol Profesional Colombiano Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

. He won a Fútbol Profesional Colombiano title with

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

in 2002, and appeared in 17 regular season and

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

games for

in 2009, before signing with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

on 22 July. Since joining Dallas Benítez has been a key contributor, helping the club to reach the

2010 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2010, the 15th edition of Major League Soccer's MLS Cup, championship match, was played between the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas to decide the champion of the 2010 Major League Soccer season, 2010 season. The championship was played at ...

final.

International

Benítez is a full international with the

Colombia national football team The Colombia national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Colombia) represents Colombia in men's international football and is managed by the Colombian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Colombia. They are a member ...

, and was part of the Colombian squads at the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious ...

and the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

Personal

Benítez holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honours

FC Dallas

Western Conference Championship (1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Jair 1979 births Living people Footballers from Valle del Cauca Department Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Envigado F.C. players Independiente Santa Fe footballers Independiente Medellín footballers Deportivo Pereira footballers Club Atlético Colón footballers Deportivo Cali footballers FC Dallas players Categoría Primera A players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football defenders