Darío Benedetto

Darío Benedetto

Benedetto with Boca Juniors in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Darío Ismael Benedetto [1]
Date of birth	(1990-05-17) 17 May 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Berazategui, Argentina
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [2]
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Queretaro
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2013	Arsenal de Sarandí	51	(9)
2010	→ Defensa y Justicia (loan)	24	(2)
2011	→ Gimnasia de Jujuy (loan)	19	(11)
2013–2014	Tijuana	43	(21)
2015–2016	América	49	(17)
2016–2019	Boca Juniors	49	(32)
2019–2022	Marseille	60	(16)
2021–2022	→ Elche (loan)	14	(2)
2022–2024	Boca Juniors	32	(8)
2024-	Queretaro
International career
2017–2019	Argentina	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:47, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

Darío Ismael Benedetto (born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Queretaro. Benedetto was part of Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors until July 2024. ^{[3] [4]}

Club career

Early career

Darío Benedetto began his career playing for Arsenal de Sarandí in 2008. He was loaned out to Defensa y Justicia in 2010, and then to Gimnasia in 2011, appearing in 19 matches and scoring 11 goals. ^[5]

Tijuana

In the summer of 2013, Arsenal sold Benedetto to Mexican club Xolos de Tijuana. On 19 July, he scored a hat-trick on his league debut for the club in a 3–3 draw against Atlas at the Estadio Caliente. Benedetto would not score again until 1 November, scoring a brace against Atlante. For the 2014 Clausura, Benedetto managed to score 7 goals for the club, and scored one in the quarter-finals of the play-offs. The following tournament, the 2014 Apertura, Benedetto scored 9 goals for Tijuana, making him the fourth-best goal scorer of the tournament, behind leaders Mauro Boselli and Camilo Sanvezzo, who scored 12 goals, and Dorlan Pabón, who scored 11 goals. He also had 4 assists. In total, Benedetto scored 21 goals in 43 appearances for Xolos. ^[6]

América

On 15 December 2014, it was announced that Benedetto was sold to Club América on a four-year contract. Though details of the transfer went undisclosed, it was believed that América paid US$8 million for the player. He made his debut on 10 January 2015 in América's opening game of the Clausura tournament, a 3–2 victory over León at the Estadio Azteca, providing the assist for Oribe Peralta's second goal. He scored his first goal in a league game against Tigres UANL. ^[7]

Benedetto was named the best player of the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, and also won the Golden Boot with teammate Oribe Peralta, scoring seven goals in three matches; four in the 6–0 win over Herediano in the second leg of the semi-finals, and a hat-trick in the 5–3 aggregate victory over Montreal Impact in the Finals. ^[8]

Boca Juniors

On 6 June 2016, Benedetto left to Boca Juniors from America after asking for the transfer. ^[9] On 25 September, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win against Quilmes at La Bombonera. Although resisted at first, he was the MVP that lead Boca Juniors to is 32nd national title.

On 19 November 2017, Benedetto ruptured his ACL in a match against Racing Club. He was subsequently ruled out for six months. ^[10] Benedetto scored 30 goals in 34 appearances across his first two Superliga campaigns with Boca but was on target just twice in 15 outings in 2018–19 after returning from the knee and Achilles injuries. ^[11]

Marseille

On 5 August 2019, Benedetto signed a four-year deal with Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille for a reported fee of €14 million. ^[12] He was given the number 9 shirt. ^[12] Benedetto scored his first goal as a Marseille player in the first half of a match against OGC Nice on 28 August 2019. ^[13]

Elche (loan)

On 19 August 2021, Benedetto joined La Liga side Elche CF on a loan deal from Marseille. ^[14]

Boca Juniors

On 21 January 2022, Benedetto returned to Boca Juniors. ^[15]

International career

On 27 August 2017, Benedetto received his first senior call-up by coach Jorge Sampaoli for Argentina's 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay and Venezuela. ^[16] He made his international debut on 5 September 2017 vs. Venezuela, he came on to replace Paulo Dybala as a substitute, the match ended 1–1. ^[17]

Style of play

Benedetto is a complete striker praised for his eye for goal, his altruism, his sense of collective and his athletic qualities that make him a player appreciated by coaches. He is an excellent finisher and enhances his team's attacking game. He can play as a "goal poacher" but also knows to play as a winger or lower on the field to use his technical skills and participate in the construction of the game. ^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 April 2024 ^[19]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Continental [lower-alpha 3]		Other [lower-alpha 4]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Arsenal de Sarandí	2008–09	Argentine Primera División	12	1	–		–		–		–		12	1
	2009–10		1	0	–		–		–		–		1	0
	2011–12		10	1	1	0	–		–		–		11	1
	2012–13		28	7	2	2	–		6	3	–		36	12
	Total		51	9	3	2	–		6	3	–		60	14
Defensa y Justicia (loan)	2009–10	Primera B Nacional	14	1	–		–		–		–		14	1
	2010–11		10	1	–		–		–		–		10	1
	Total		24	2	–		–		–		–		24	2
Gimnasia (loan)	2010–11	Primera B Nacional	19	11	–		–		–		–		19	11
Tijuana	2013–14	Liga MX	26	12	–		–		4	1	–		30	13
	2014–15		17	9	3	1	–		–		–		20	10
	Total		43	21	3	1	–		4	1	–		50	23
América	2014–15	Liga MX	17	6	–		–		3	7	–		20	13
	2015–16		32	11	–		–		7	1	2	1	41	13
	Total		49	17	–		–		10	8	2	1	61	26
Boca Juniors	2015–16	Argentine Primera División	–		3	2	–		2	0	–		5	2
	2016–17		25	21	3	3	–		–		–		28	24
	2017–18		9	9	2	0	–		6	5	0	0	17	14
	2018–19		15	2	–		4	0	6	3	1	0	26	5
	Total		49	32	8	5	4	0	14	8	1	0	76	45
Marseille	2019–20	Ligue 1	26	11	2	0	–		–		–		28	11
	2020–21		32	5	2	1	–		6	0	1	0	41	6
	2021–22		2	0	0	0	–		0	0	–		2	0
	Total		60	16	4	1	–		6	0	1	0	71	17
Elche (loan)	2021–22	La Liga	14	2	2	0	–		–		–		16	2
Boca Juniors	2022	Argentine Primera División	17	5	2	1	14	7	7	3	1	0	41	16
	2023		15	3	5	1	12	2	8	0	2	3	42	9
	2024		0	0	1	0	10	1	2	0	–		13	1
	Total		32	8	8	2	36	10	17	3	3	3	96	26
	Boca total		81	40	16	7	40	10	31	11	4	3	172	71
Career total			341	118	28	11	40	10	57	23	7	4	473	166

1. Includes Copa Argentina, Copa MX, Coupe de France and Copa del Rey
2. Includes Copa de la Superliga and Copa de la Liga Profesional
3. Includes Copa Libertadores, CONCACAF Champions League, UEFA Champions League and Copa Sudamericana
4. Includes FIFA Club World Cup, Supercopa Argentina, Trophée des Champions, Trofeo de Campeones and Supercopa Internacional

International

As of match played 22 March 2019 ^[20]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Argentina	2017	4	0
	2019	1	0
Total		5	0

Honours

América

• CONCACAF Champions League: 2014–15, ^[21] 2015–16 ^[22]

Boca Juniors

• Argentine Primera División: 2016–17, ^[23] 2017–18, ^[24] 2022
• Copa de la Liga Profesional: 2022
• Supercopa Argentina: 2018, 2022 ^[25]
• Copa Libertadores runner-up: 2018, 2023

Individual

• CONCACAF Champions League Golden Ball: 2014–15 ^[21]
• CONCACAF Champions League Top Goalscorer: 2014–15 ^[21]
• Footballer of the Year of Argentina: 2017
• Argentine Primera División top scorer: 2016–17 ^[23]

References

1. "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 December 2015. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2015.
2. "Darío Benedetto Stats, Goals, Records, Assists, Cups and more".
3. No va más: Darío Benedetto rescinde con Boca y espera on Ambito Financiero, 18 Jul 2024
4. Comunicado oficial: rescisión contractual de Darío Benedetto on C.A. Boca Juniors official media
5. "Xolos sign Darío Benedetto".
6. Darío Benedetto – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
7. "Revive cómo fue el América 1 - 0 Tigres" [Relive how America won 1 - 0 over Tigres]. excelsior.com (in Spanish). Imagen Digital. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
8. "Club America beat the Montreal Impact 5-3 on aggregate to win CCL". espnfc.com. ESPN. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
9. "Darío Benedetto deja al América para jugar con Boca Juniors" . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
10. Garcia, Adriana (20 November 2017). "Boca Juniors' Dario Benedetto set for six months out with ACL injury". ESPN. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
11. "Marseille Announce Benedetto Signing from Boca". beIN Sports. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
12. "Marseille brings in Argentina striker Benedetto". beIN Sports. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
13. "Nice - OM en direct live | OM actualité par Le Phocéen". www.lephoceen.fr. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
14. "El Elche ficha a Darío Benedetto". MARCA (in Spanish). 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
15. ""Estoy muy emocionado" | Futbol". Boca Juniors (in Spanish). 21 January 2022. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
16. "Lista de convocados de Jorge Sampaoli" (in Spanish). AFA. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
17. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Matches - Argentina-Venezuela". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
18. "Avec Dario Benedetto, l'OM à choisi un vrai buteur qu'il faudra relancer". football365.fr (in French). 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
19. "D. Benedetto". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
20. "Benedetto, Darío". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
21. "Benedetto named Scotiabank CCL Golden Ball winner". CONCACAF. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
22. "Tigres UANL 0 America 2: Benedetto, Martinez score for champions". Fourfourtwo.com. Four Four Two. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
23. "Primera División 2016/2017 - Top Scorer". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
24. "Boca Juniors clinch Argentine Superliga title with 2-2 draw". Reuters. 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
25. "Alfaro: "Lo quiero compartir con Guillermo"". Fox Sports (in Spanish). 2 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.

External links

• Media related to Darío Benedetto at Wikimedia Commons
• Darío Ismael Benedetto at Liga MX ( archive ) (in Spanish)