Jorge José Benítez (born 3 June 1950 in Gobernador Castro, Buenos Aires Province) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

former football player and coach. Nicknamed ''El Chino'' ("The Chinese"), Benítez started his career in

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 Port ...

in 1969; in 1973 he was transferred to

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 the A ...

, where he stayed until retirement in 1983. A gifted midfielder, he played 305 league matches and scored 40 goals for Boca, being instrumental in achieving the Metropolitano title in 1976 and 1981, the Nacional in 1976, the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

in 1977 and 1978 and the European/South American Cup in 1977. Since he shared Boca's midfield with talented players such as Trobbiani, Suñé, Potente, Ribolzi, Berta, Zanabria, Brindisi, and

Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, his place in the team was often compromised. After retirement, Benítez worked as junior division coach in Boca Juniors, and was offered the post of main coach in November 2004 upon the resignation of (former teammate) Brindisi due to poor results. Benítez's first achievement was to stabilize the team's performance, and indeed it went on to win the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...

2004; management was convinced that he was the right man for the job, and extended the term of his contract, instead of going for a big-name coach. On 15 July 2005, Benítez was sacked from Boca Juniors, following a poor performance by the team in the

, and an incident in the quarterfinals match against Chivas de Guadalajara. A review of tape showed the manager spitting at Chivas player Adolfo Bautista. After being sacked, Benítez sought out Bautista to personally apologize by flying to a Chivas practice at Guadalajara. The apology was accepted but a personal meeting was rejected. Boca then proceeded to hire former national team coach

Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach * Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor * Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor * Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer * Alfio Fazio, Italia ...

for the post.

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Statistics and profile
at Historia de Boca 1950 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine football managers Argentine Primera División players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Boca Juniors footballers Boca Juniors managers Association football midfielders S.D. Quito managers {{Argentina-footy-midfielder-stub