Gustavo Benítez (born 5 February 1953) is a retired

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Playing career

As a player, Benítez won several national championships with

Olimpia Asunción Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional sports club based in the city of Asunción. It promotes the practice of various sports, with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, football being the most successful. Fou ...

, where he was a key part of the defence. He also made 42 appearances for the

Paraguay national football team The Paraguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albirroja,'' represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association, Asociación Paraguaya de Fút ...

, and competed at the

1987 Copa América The 1987 Copa América was the 33rd edition of the Copa América, CONMEBOL's national team competition. It was the first Copa América under the new rotational hosting system. Argentina, as the first country alphabetically, hosted the tournament ...

in Argentina.

Coaching career

After retiring from football as a player he became a coach. At Chilean club

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

, he won three Chilean league championships (1996, 1997, 1998) and one Copa Chile (1996). In January 1999, Benítez replaced the sacked

Nando Yosu Fernando Trío Zabala (8 July 1939 – 20 February 2016), known as Nando Yosu, was a Spanish football player and manager. His extensive career, as both a player and coach, was mainly associated with Racing de Santander. Playing career Born in ...

at the helm of Spanish

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 ...

club

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

, and saved the team from relegation. He resigned at the end of the following season, after a second consecutive 15th-place finish caused some dissent from the fans; his Russian striker

Vladimir Beschastnykh Vladimir Yevgenyevich Beschastnykh ( rus, Влади́мир Евге́ньевич Бесча́стных, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʲɪˈɕːasnɨx; born 1 April 1974) is a Russian football manager and a former player who ...

told his country's ''

Sport Express ''Sport-Express'' () is a Russian daily sports newspaper founded by Vladimir Kuchmiy. Printed in 31 cities of Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the United States, it is the biggest-selling sports newspaper in Russia, with the dail ...

'' in January 2000 that he wanted the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

ns to lose so that Benítez could be dismissed. Benítez returned to the

Estadio El Sardinero Campos de Sport de El Sardinero ("El Sardinero Sport Fields"), or simply El Sardinero, is a multi-purpose stadium in Santander, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches, serving as the home ground of the former La Liga side Racing ...

in March 2001 after the dismissal of

Gregorio Manzano Gregorio "Goyo" Manzano Ballesteros (; born 11 March 1956) is a Spanish football manager. In a career of 35 years, he managed for 14 consecutive seasons in La Liga with seven clubs, including three spells at Mallorca and two at Atlético Madrid ...

, for what remained of the season plus two more. However, he lost his job on 5 October after a poor start to the

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 ...

campaign following relegation, and was replaced by

Quique Setién Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', and was bes ...

. In February 2003, Benítez was back in Spain's top flight, taking over a

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

team placed in 18th. After winning twice in ten games, putting the team into their eventual last position, he was dismissed on 14 April and

Antonio Iriondo Antonio Iriondo Ortega (born 3 November 1953) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder and is a current manager. He has managed teams such as Rayo Vallecano, CD San Fernando and Rayo Majadahonda in Spain. Playing career Born ...

appointed. On 1 April 2010 CD Palestino officials hired the former Cobreloa and Colo-Colo coach to replace Jorge Aravena who quit about two weeks ago.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Gustavo 1953 births Living people People from Paraguarí Footballers from Paraguarí Department Paraguayan men's footballers Paraguay men's international footballers 1975 Copa América players 1987 Copa América players Club Olimpia footballers Granada CF footballers Atlético Nacional footballers Paraguayan Primera División players La Liga players Categoría Primera A players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Men's association football defenders Paraguayan football managers Paraguayan expatriate football managers Club Olimpia managers Colo-Colo managers Racing de Santander managers Rayo Vallecano managers C.D. Cobreloa managers Club Deportivo Palestino managers Paraguayan Primera División managers Chilean Primera División managers La Liga managers Expatriate football managers in Chile Expatriate football managers in Spain Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile