Darío Benedetto

Darío Benedetto

Personal information
Full name	Darío Ismael Benedetto
Date of birth	(1990-05-17) 17 May 1990
Place of birth	Berazategui, Argentina
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	América
Number	9
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2013	Arsenal de Sarandí	50	(9)
2009–2011	→ Defensa y Justicia (loan)	23	(2)
2011–2012	→ Gimnasia de Jujuy (loan)	19	(11)
2013–2015	Tijuana	43	(21)
2015–	América	47	(17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 January 2016

Darío Ismael Benedetto (born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club América. As of 2015, Benedetto is a naturalized Mexican citizen.

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 2009, and then to Gimnasia in 2011, appearing in 19 matches and scoring 11 goals.

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.

América

On 16 December, 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.

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.

Honours

América

• CONCACAF Champions League: 2014–15, 2015–16

Individual

• CONCACAF Champions League Golden Ball: 2014–15
• CONCACAF Champions League Top Goalscorer: 2014–15