2024-03-27 00:24:03
In the preview of the friendly that the Argentine National Team will play against Costa Rica in Los Angeles, it was confirmed that Lionel Scaloni decided to try some variants in the team. One of the most striking will be the official debut of Walter Benítez, the goalkeeper who left Quilmes, broke it in France and even had the chance to defend the colors of two other teams.
The story of the current PSV goalkeeper Eindhoven from the Netherlands, he started in Quilmes with the detail that he did not start as a goalkeeper. «I started as a striker, but the day I went to goal I clicked. It was a seven-on-seven game, on a court with more dirt than grass, and I enjoyed throwing and rolling more than being a striker. At 9 years old I decided to be an archer«He detailed in an interview with La Nación in 2019.
Born in San Martín, Chaco, Benítez came to Primera thanks to Caruso Lombardi in April 2014. He was prepared by Marcelo Pontiroli at Cervecero and came to play just 51 parties. Since two years after his debut, the Chaco player made the leap to Europe and became a goalkeeper for Nice.
In the French team, the former Brewer He made history, played 188 games and scored 55 clean sheets.. Based on his high level, he caught the attention of the French National Team, which tried to get him a passport in 2020 to defend Les Blues. «Since I did not play in the Argentine National Team, there is a possibility that they will call me from the French team. I don’t close the door to anyone, but I am Argentine and I would love to play for my country«he declared at that time.
However, the European country was not the only team that tried to take Benítez. In 2021, He was contacted by the Paraguay National Team, which was directed by Guillermo and Gustavo Barros Schelotto at that time.. «Guillermo contacted me at the time, that there was an interest, they were trying to look at the issue of the papers to see if it was possible, but to date nothing has happened. “It’s another thing that we will evaluate,” he commented on that situation.
Walter Benítez’s first experience in the National Team: the South American in Argentina 2013
Beyond the fact that Benítez’s official debut with the Albiceleste will take place tonight against Costa Rica, the former Quilmes goalkeeper had already had his first experience with the Argentine National Team in the South American Argentina 2013, as starting goalkeeper of the Under 20 team. Furthermore, it had been shortlisted for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but was left out due to injury.
With the senior team, his first calls were with Lionel Scaloni. He participated in the tour before Australia and Indonesia in June of last year. However, he could not add minutes under the arc, a situation that was repeated in the Qualifiers on the way to the 2026 World Cup, against Uruguay and Brazil.
Tonight, against the Ticos, Benítez will have the opportunity to make his debut defending the goal of the world champion team, a moment that he will have dreamed of his entire life.
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