Leandro Benítez is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 footballer who plays for Estudiantes de La Plata

Estudiantes de La Plata

Club Estudiantes de La Plata , simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history....

. He usually plays as a midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 on the left side of the pitch.

Career

A native of Ensenada

Ensenada, Buenos Aires

Ensenada is a city and port in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, located around the Ensenada de Barragán. It has 31,031 inhabitants as per the...

, Benítez grew in the youth system of Estudiantes de La Plata

Estudiantes de La Plata

Club Estudiantes de La Plata , simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history....

, and in 2001 was loaned to Quilmes

Quilmes Atlético Club

Quilmes Atlético Club is a sports clubs of Argentina, based on the Partido de Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province. Quilmes is one of the oldest clubs of Argentina, having been founded in 1887. Its football squad currently plays in the Primera B Nacional Division....

 where he played two years, and then to Olimpo where he stayed another two years.

Back in Estudiantes since 2005, Benítez was part of the 2006 Apertura championship team. In 2008, he was runner up with the team in the Copa Sudamericana. Subsequently, he was a starter and key contributor on the team that won the 2009 Copa Libertadores. The midfielder played in 14 games, and scored 1 goal (against Nacional

Club Nacional de Football

Club Nacional de Football is a Uruguayan sports club based in Montevideo. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Uruguayan Primera División....

 in the semifinal) during the tournament.

In the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup

2009 FIFA Club World Cup

-Play-off for Quarter-finals:-Quarter-finals:-----Semi-finals:-----Match for fifth place:-Match for third place:-Final:-Scorers:4 goals Denilson...

, Benítez scored twice in the semi-final against Pohang Steelers

Pohang Steelers

Pohang Steelers are a South Korean professional football club based in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do. They were originally called POSCO, after the Pohang Iron and Steel Company that owned it...

 in a 2-1 win.

Honours

Estudiantes

• Argentine Primera División (2): 2006 Apertura, 2010 Apertura
  2010–11 Argentine Primera División season
  The 2010–11 Primera División season was the eighty-second season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed in two championships —the Apertura and Clausura— over the course of the season, which started on August 6, 2010 and ended on June 30, 2011, one...
  
  
• Copa Libertadores (1): 2009

External links

• Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI
• ESPN statistics