Miguel Ángel Benítez Pavón (born 19 May 1970), also known as Peque Benítez, is a

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

an retired

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 ...

who played as a forward. He is best known for his spell with Spain's

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, where he played for seven years. Altogether he spent one full decade in that country, representing three other teams and appearing in more than 200 official games overall. A Paraguayan international in the late 1990s, Benítez represented the nation at the 1998 World Cup.

Club career

Benítez was born in

Santísima Trinidad (Asunción) Santísima Trinidad is a neighbourhood (''barrio'') of Asunción, Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South ...

. After playing for modest clubs in his country he arrived in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at the age of 23, purchased by Atlético Madrid, but appeared very rarely for the ''Colchoneros'', being often demoted to its reserves and also being loaned twice, notably to CP Mérida which he helped promote from the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

by scoring a team-best ten goals in only five months. Released by Atlético in the 1995 summer, Benítez signed with fellow

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 Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

, going on to experience his best years: alternating between the starting XI and the bench, he amassed 166 competitive appearances for the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

, helping them to the 2000 conquest of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

. Already in his 30s and dealing with some injuries, Benítez left Espanyol in January 2002, returning to his country and signing with

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

's Club Olimpia. In his first year with Olimpia he helped the team to win Copa Libertadores, and the following season he won Recopa Sudamericana. In the years until his retirement he appeared for several clubs, and also returned to Spain, playing with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

in the second level. Benítez started his coaching career in 2008, taking charge of lowly Club Silvio Pettirossi as it was experiencing its first season in the Primera División – short-lived, as the side dropped down two tiers in as many years.

International career

Courtesy of his solid Espanyol performances, Benítez gained all of his 30

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Paraguay national team. He was selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, playing in all four matches as the country reached the round-of-16 and netting in the 3–1 group stage win over

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Benítez was also selected for the 1999 Copa América, played on home soil, scoring three times: this included one in Paraguay's 1–1 quarter-final clash 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 ...

, where he also missed the decisive

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

attempt.Copa América 1999
; at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...

International goals

Honours

;Espanyol *

: 1999–2000 ;Olimpia * Copa Libertadores: 2002 * Recopa Sudamericana: 2003

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Miguel Angel 1970 births Living people Paraguayan footballers Association football forwards Paraguayan Primera División players Club Olimpia footballers Sportivo Luqueño players La Liga players Segunda División players Atlético Madrid footballers CP Mérida footballers RCD Espanyol footballers UD Almería players Peruvian Primera División players Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Paraguay international footballers Copa Libertadores-winning players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players Paraguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Peru Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Paraguayan football managers