Orlendis Carlos Benítez Hernández (born 26 November 1996) is a Cuban professional

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 lea ...

who plays for

Scrosoppi FC Scrosoppi Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Milton, Ontario, that plays in League1 Ontario Premier. The club is named after St. Luigi Scrosoppi, who is the patron saint of soccer players. History The club was ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

Playing career

He began his career in his native Cuba with FC La Habana. During the 2018–19 season, he was named the Best Player of the

Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Cuba The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Fútbol de Cuba is the top football division in Cuba. Currently, it is contested by 16 clubs and is divided into two tournaments – "Apertura" and "Clausura", with the last being the championship tournament. Th ...

. In 2021 and 2022, he played for

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

. In June 2022, he joined

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

club

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

on a short-term loan. He made his debut for Forge on 12 June against

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 20 ...

. He then returned to Vaughan, helping them win the league title. In February 2023, he signed with the Simcoe County Rovers in

. He was named the L1O Midfielder of the Year and a First Team All-Star in 2023, after helping Simcoe win the league title. In September 2024, he signed with Forge FC for the remainder of the 2024 season. After the season, the club picked up his option for 2025. However, he instead returned to League1 Ontario and joined

International career

In late August 2019, he received his first call-up to the

Cuba national football team The Cuba national football team () represents Cuba in men's international football, and is controlled by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba (), which is a member of FIFA since 1932 and was a founding member of CONCACAF since 1961. It was also ...

for their

2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League The 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League was the inaugural season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The Nations League qua ...

matches against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in September. However, ahead of the match, he defected from the squad to settle in Canada and not return to Cuba, with the help of his uncle (whom he had never met) who was a baseball player who had also defected while in Canada.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Orlendis 1996 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Cuban men's footballers Footballers from Havana Cuban expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Canada League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players Vaughan Azzurri players Forge FC players Simcoe County Rovers FC players Defecting Cuban footballers Scrosoppi FC players FC La Habana players