He football and music Throughout history they were united in different situations and contexts. Both disciplines have shared famous performers throughout these years. Julio Iglesias, Mono Burgos, José Manuel Pinto, Jesé, Daniel Osvaldo, are just some names that had their time in both worlds. Likewise, today’s protagonist looked like he would be a star, but due to his physique he had to abandon a career halfway through.
Alvaro Benitoborn in Salamanca on December 10, 1976, is a former soccer player who lived something that most of those who become soccer players dream of and that few can achieve: play for Real Madrid.
Playing for the greatest team in the history of football is not for everyone. In any case, despite having painted for star, an unfortunate event caused Álvaro’s football career to come to a halt. However, as the saying goes “there is no silver lining” and for 20 years Álvaro has been a recognized musician in Spain. How was the former midfielder’s career?
What was Álvaro Benito’s football career like?
Arrived from Real AvilaAlvaro He made the juniors at Real Madrid. Since childhood he presented himself as a talented left-handed player, known for his refined style and technical precision. These qualities caught the attention of Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid’s coach during the 1994/95 season, when the team was crowned league champion, breaking Barcelona’s winning streak that had won the previous four leagues.
The following season, in a league expanded to 22 teams, Real Madrid experienced an unexpected fall. Valdano, in his search to revitalize the team, turned to the youth team, highlighting Álvaro Benito as one of the main promises.
Álvaro Benito made his debut against Rayo Vallecano in a match where the team won 1-5, and Álvaro, only 18 years old, entered the field in the 70th minute, replacing José Emilio Amavisca. This was not an isolated debut; He continued to play from the bench in the following games and on November 26, 1995 he started for the first time. On December 2, he repeated as a starter at the Santiago Bernabéu and scored his first goal.
In any case, the team was not doing well. In January 1996, Jorge Valdano was replaced first by Vicente del Bosque and then by Arsenio Iglesias, which affected Álvaro’s continuity in the first team, alternating between the first team and the reserve team.
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In the following season, led by Fabio Capello, Merengue won the League again. Despite the competition with players of an invaluable hierarchy, Álvaro managed to remain regular in the team. But his career suffered a major setback.
On November 12, 1996, during a concentration with the Spanish U-21 team for a match against Slovakia, Álvaro suffered a serious injury to his left knee, known as the “triad”, which involves the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, the medial collateral ligament and the medial meniscus. Even though he had surgery, his knee was never the same.
After recovering, he attempted to return to football. In January 1998 he played three games for Castilla and was then loaned to Tenerife, where he played two games and scored a goal. Unfortunately, he relapsed from his injury, ending his First Division career. He did not play again until the 2001/02 season with Castilla in Second B.
At the end of that season, he left Real Madrid and joined Getafe, where he played only seven games in the Second Division. On August 13, 2003, at the age of 26, Álvaro Benito announced his retirement from football.
Almost all of Álvaro’s career was spent belonging to a successful Real Madrid. However, Álvaro walked around on the field during title celebration days, celebrating with his teammates, but on crutches.
Álvaro Benito’s life after his retirement from football
Once the boots have been hung up Álvaro became a guitarist and vocalist. Next to Hector Polo (another ex-footballer with a past at Rayo Vallecano) and Pablo Alonso Alvarez they formed the band Pignoise, a band that hasn’t stopped playing for 20 years. However, despite having been a Real Madrid footballer, fame was slow to come for Álvaro in the world of music.
“Many doors were closed to us because of my past as a footballer. Nobody wanted to see Pignoise anywhere,” were the words of Álvaro Benito in Ballantine’s Stay True Records, when presenting the band’s new album that celebrates the 20th anniversary. Even on that album the band has a collaboration with Andrés Calamaro in “Te Entido”.
According to Álvaro, being a former soccer player “they saw him as an imposter.” Beyond that, the band initially released two albums that had little impact (Melodías Desafinadas and Esto no es un disco de punk) and that is why Pignoise was on the verge of dissolution. In any case, good opportunities came to the band and Benito.
Pignoise rose to fame as the performer of Nada Que Perder, a song that was played in the series Los Hombres de Paco.. In this production, the band members also appeared as secondary characters. Such was the impact that the musical group managed to sign a contract with the Warner DRO record company, they released new albums and began to do hundreds of shows in Spain.
In any case, he who is a player will always be a player. The passion for football and for Madrid are things that followed Álvaro Benito throughout his life and that is why from 2015 to 2019, the guitarist and vocalist of Pignoise was a coach in several youth divisions of Real Madrid.
Currently, Álvaro Benito has appearances in the sports media talking about Real Madrid and is also found tour with the band in celebration of its 20 years. The former Merengue footballer is a living example for many since his career was cut short by injuries, but that did not stop him from looking for new directions and dreams to fulfill.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
