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Víctor Benítez
	Benítez in 1963
Personal information
Full name	Víctor Benítez Morales
Date of birth	30 October 1935
Place of birth	Lima, Peru
Date of death	11 July 2022 (aged 86)
Place of death	Milan, Italy
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1954–1959	Alianza Lima
1960–1962	Boca Juniors
1962–1963	AC Milan
1963–1964	Messina
1964–1965	AC Milan
1965–1966	Roma
1966–1967	Venezia
1967–1968	Inter Milan
1968–1970	Roma
1971	Sporting Cristal
International career
1957–1959	Peru
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Víctor Benítez Morales (12 September 1935 – 11 July 2022) was a Peruvian professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Nicknamed "El Conejo", he notably played for Italian clubs AC Milan, Roma and Inter Milan as well as Argentine club Boca Juniors. He won the European Cup title with AC Milan in 1963.

Along with José Velásquez, he is recognised as one of Peru's most important defensive midfielders of all time.

Club career

Born in Lima, Peru, Benítez began his career with Alianza Lima in 1950s. He won two Peruvian league titles in 1954 and 1955. In 1960 he joined Argentine club Boca Juniors where he was part of the team that won the 1962 league championship.

Benítez moved to Italy in 1962, where he played for AC Milan, Messina, Roma, Venezia, and Inter Milan. In 1963, he was part of the AC Milan team that won the UEFA Champions League. He won a Coppa Italia title with Roma in 1969.

He returned to Peru in 1971 where he played out the remainder of his career with Sporting Cristal.

International career

Between 1957 and 1959 he played 11 games for the Peru national team.^[2] He appeared for Peru in the Copa América in 1957 and 1959, playing in a total of seven games. Additionally, he played in FIFA World Cup qualification for his native country in 1957. On 17 May 1959, Benitez was part of the Peru national team which beat England 4–1 in Lima.^[3]