Benjamín Zarandona Esono (born 2 March 1976), known simply as Benjamín, is a former 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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent most of his professional career in Spain, notably with Betis where he remained nine years, winning one

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

and appearing in 194 competitive games. Over 12 seasons, he amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 244 matches and 18 goals, also representing in the competition

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

and

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. Born in Spain, Benjamín was a member of the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Club career

Valladolid

Born in

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, Benjamín began his career with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, playing initially for their reserves in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. His first-team debut took place on 2 April 1995 in a 3–0 away loss to

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, and he made a further nine

appearances during that season. The highlight of Benjamín's career at the

Estadio José Zorrilla es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...

was helping the club to qualify for the

1997–98 UEFA Cup The 1997–98 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale in an all-Italian final against Lazio. It was their third title in eight years in the competition. It was the first instance of the UEFA Cup final being a one-game contest at a neutral stadium, h ...

as seventh in the league, scoring home braces against

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in '' Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club ha ...

(2–1) and

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

(4–1).

Betis

Benjamín joined

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in summer 1998, being at the time Valladolid's most expensive transfer ever at 10.7 million pesetas. He played 28 games in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

with four appearances in the team's UEFA Cup run, netting twice. Additionally, he spent the 2000–01 campaign helping the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns to achieve promotion from

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, alongside neighbours

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. After 26 league matches in 2004–05, as Betis achieved qualification for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and lifted the

,Dani delivers for Betis
UEFA, 11 June 2005 Benjamín went on loan to

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

for the 2005–06 season, and his role at the former would gradually lose importance onwards: he was unregistered for over a year, and a mutual termination of his contract was later agreed.

Later years

Benjamín joined second-tier side

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo S. A. D. is a Spanish association football, football club based in the city of Jerez de la Frontera. It was founded in 1947 and plays in . History Due to the link between Jerez de la Frontera and the United Kingdom created b ...

for 2007–08, but lasted only a few months, being released. In September 2008, he signed with

CF Palencia Club de Fútbol Palencia was a Spanish football team based in Palencia, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1975 and dissolved in 2012, it held home games at '' Estadio La Nueva Balastera'', with an 8,100-seat capacity. ...

from

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

, continuing to compete in amateur football until his retirement in June 2013.

International career

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, Benjamín helped Spain under-21s to win the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

.1998: Iván Pérez applies finishing touch
UEFA, 1 June 1998 However, he switched allegiance in 2004 and, as his younger brother Iván who also played for Valladolid, opted to represent

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

Personal life

Benjamín's father was

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, and his mother was from

. Despite his Basque parentage, he was never approached by

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

nor did he play for

Euskadi The Basque Country or Basque Autonomous Community (), also officially called Euskadi (), is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa. It surrounds two enclaves called Treviño ...

.Voluntad de tradición (Will of tradition)

El Correo ''El Correo'' (; ) is a leading daily newspaper in Bilbao and the Basque Country of northern Spain. It is among best-selling general interest newspapers in Spain. History and profile The brothers Ybarra y de la Revilla – Fernando, Gabriel and ...

, 27 May 2001 (in Spanish)

Honours

Betis *

: 2004–05 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarandona, Benjamin 1976 births Living people 20th-century Spanish people 21st-century Spanish people 21st-century Equatoguinean people Equatoguinean people of Basque descent Spanish people of Basque descent Equatoguinean sportspeople of Spanish descent Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Spanish men's footballers Equatoguinean men's footballers Footballers from Valladolid Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Valladolid Promesas players Real Valladolid players Real Betis players Cádiz CF players Xerez CD footballers CF Palencia footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Equatorial Guinea men's international footballers International sportspeople born abroad