Darío Ismael Benedetto (born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine 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, rugb ...

who plays as a striker for

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...

club

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...

Club career

Early career

Darío Benedetto began his career playing for

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

in 2008. He was loaned out to

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

in 2010, and then to Gimnasia in 2011, appearing in 19 matches and scoring 11 goals.

Tijuana

In the summer of 2013, Arsenal sold Benedetto to Mexican club Xolos de Tijuana. On 19 July, he scored a hat-trick on his league debut for the club in a 3–3 draw against

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geogra ...

at the

Estadio Caliente The Estadio Caliente Xoloitzcuintles is a multi-use stadium in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, that is mostly used for football matches. The stadium hosts home matches for the football club Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Cali ...

. Benedetto would not score again until 1 November, scoring a brace against Atlante. For the 2014 Clausura, Benedetto managed to score 7 goals for the club, and scored one in the quarter-finals of the play-offs. The following tournament, the 2014 Apertura, Benedetto scored 9 goals for Tijuana, making him the fourth-best goal scorer of the tournament, behind leaders

Mauro Boselli Mauro Boselli (born 22 May 1985) is an Argentine professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Estudiantes de La Plata. Boselli began his career at Argentine Primera División, Argenti ...

and

Camilo Sanvezzo Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo (born 21 July 1988) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Toluca. He is a Mexican naturalized citizen. Club career Corinthians Alagoano Camilo began his career in the youth ...

, who scored 12 goals, and

Dorlan Pabón Dorlan Mauricio Pabón Ríos (born 24 January 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Atlético Nacional. He is nicknamed ''Memín'', after an old Mexican comic character named Memín Pinguín. Club career En ...

, who scored 11 goals. He also had 4 assists. In total, Benedetto scored 21 goals in 43 appearances for Xolos.

América

On 15 December 2014, it was announced that Benedetto was sold to

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier ...

on a four-year contract. Though details of the transfer went undisclosed, it was believed that América paid US$8 million for the player. He made his debut on 10 January 2015 in América's opening game of the Clausura tournament, a 3–2 victory over León at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of a ...

, providing the assist for

Oribe Peralta Oribe Peralta Morones (born 12 January 1984) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Peralta began his professional career with Morelia in 2003. He later played for León and Monte ...

's second goal. He scored his first goal in a league game against Tigres UANL. Benedetto was named the best player of the

2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League The 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2014–15 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons starting from 2015) was the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 50th e ...

, and also won the Golden Boot with teammate

, scoring seven goals in three matches; four in the 6–0 win over Herediano in the second leg of the semi-finals, and a hat-trick in the 5–3 aggregate victory over Montreal Impact in the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Boca Juniors

On 6 June 2016, Benedetto left to

from

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

after asking for the transfer. On 25 September, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win against

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the eponymous county. With a population of 230,810, it is located south of the ...

La Bombonera The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands ro ...

. Although resisted at first, he was the MVP that lead Boca Juniors to is 32nd national title. On 19 November 2017, Benedetto ruptured his ACL in a match against

Racing Club Racing Club may refer to: Football * Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast * K.R.C. Genk, Belgium * Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon * Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon * Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina * Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti * Racing Club Po ...

. He was subsequently ruled out for six months. Benedetto scored 30 goals in 34 appearances across his first two Superliga campaigns with Boca but was on target just twice in 15 outings in 2018–19 after returning from the knee and Achilles injuries.

Marseille

On 5 August 2019, Benedetto signed a four-year deal with

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

side

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club p ...

for a reported fee of €14 million. He was given the number 9 shirt. Benedetto scored his first goal as a Marseille player in the first half of a match against

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. N ...

on 28 August 2019.

Elche (loan)

On 19 August 2021, Benedetto joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

side

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

on a loan deal from Marseille.

Boca Juniors

On 21 January 2022, Benedetto returned to

International career

On 27 August 2017, Benedetto received his first senior call-up by coach

Jorge Sampaoli Jorge Luis Sampaoli Moya (; born 13 March 1960) is an Argentine football coach who is currently manager for Sevilla of La Liga. Sampaoli started out as a youth player and eventually switched to management after a severe injury. Sampaoli start ...

for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

's 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He made his international debut on 5 September 2017 vs. Venezuela, he came on to replace Paulo Dybala as a substitute, the match ended 1–1.

Style of play

Benedetto is a complete striker praised for his eye for goal, his

altruism Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for the welfare and/or happiness of other human beings or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a cor ...

, his sense of collective and his athletic qualities that make him a player appreciated by coaches. He is an excellent finisher and enhances his team's attacking game. He can play as a "goal poacher" but also knows to play as a winger or lower on the field to use his technical skills and participate in the construction of the game.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

América *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Boca Juniors *

: 2016–17, 2017–18,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Copa de la Liga Profesional The Copa de la Liga Profesional (English: ''Professional League Cup''; officially named "Copa Diego Armando Maradona" in its first edition) is an official Argentine football cup competition. The cup was planned and organised by the "Liga Profesi ...

Supercopa Argentina The Supercopa Argentina (English: Argentine Super Cup) is an official National association football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The annual football match was played for the first time in 2012, being cont ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * CONCACAF Champions League Golden Ball: 2014–15 * CONCACAF Champions League Top Goalscorer: 2014–15 *

Footballer of the Year of Argentina The Footballer of the Year of Argentina (in Spanish: ''Olimpia de Plata al Mejor Futbolista'', that literally translates to "Silver Olimpia to the Best Footballer) is a yearly award given by the Argentine Sports Journalists' Circle (''Círculo de ...

: 2017 * Argentine Primera División top scorer: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedetto, Dario 1990 births Living people Association football forwards Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentina international footballers Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers Club Tijuana footballers Club América footballers Boca Juniors footballers Olympique de Marseille players Elche CF players Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Liga MX players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain People from Berazategui Partido Naturalized citizens of Mexico Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province