Benjamín Rafael Núñez Rodríguez (born 15 May 1995), commonly known as Benji, is a 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 as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''La Liga'', ''Segunda División'', and its fellow semi-professional divisions '' Primera Federación'' and ''Segunda F ...

club

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

. Born in Spain, he represents the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

at international level.

Early life

Benji was raised in El Doctoral, a neighborhood in Vecindario,

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

, Canary Islands.

Club career

Benji is a former player of CD San Pedro Mártir (two stints),

UD Vecindario Unión Deportiva Vecindario is a Spanish football team based in Vecindario, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1962 and refounded in 2021, they play in , holding home games at '' Esta ...

Real Ávila CF Real Ávila Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Ávila, Spain, Ávila, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1923, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Esta ...

and UD Las Palmas C. In November 2022, Benji signed for

CF Villanovense Club de Fútbol Villanovense is a Spanish football team based in Villanueva de la Serena, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1992 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadio Romero Cuerda'', with a capacity of 5,000 seats. ...

International career

Benji is a former member of the Canary Islands autonomous under–18 team. He made his senior debut for the Dominican Republic in a 0-1 loss to

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

on 16 November 2019.

Personal life

Benji has a twin brother, Fran Núñez, also a footballer, who plays for

SCR Peña Deportiva Sociedad Cultural Recreativa Peña Deportiva is a Spanish football team based in Santa Eulària des Riu, in the autonomous community of Balearic Islands. According to its Fundational Act Peña Deportiva was founded on March 21, 1935. It plays in ...

and is also a member of the Dominican Republic national team.

References

1995 births Living people Spanish twins Dominican Republic twins Dominican Republic men's footballers Dominican Republic men's international footballers Spanish men's footballers People from Gran Canaria Footballers from the Province of Las Palmas Spanish people of Dominican Republic descent Sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent Men's association football fullbacks UD Vecindario players UD Las Palmas C players AD Ceuta FC players CF Villanovense players Tercera División players Segunda Federación players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen {{Spain-footy-defender-stub