Terrible news coming out of Qatar as the death of Christian Benitez, the 27-year old Ecuador international who only recently completed a transfer from Club America to El Jaish, as a medical complication led to a cardiac arrest.

He was rushed to a hospital in Doha because of a “strong pain” in the abdomen. He did not received immediate medical revision and a few hours later Benítez started to has a respiratory failure. He died from complications leading to cardiac arrest.

Benitez, 27, only recently won the Mexican Clausura title with Club America and completed an €11.7 million transfer to the Qatari club, appeared 58 times for the national team, scoring 24 goals.

The short (1.68) striker began his career playing for El Nacional in Ecuador, from there moving on to Santos Laguna in Mexico, scoring 31 goals in two seasons for the club. He reached the Premier League, playing one season with Birmingham City before returning to Santos Laguna, from there moving on to America. He was one of the most prolific scorers in Mexico over the last three seasons, scoring 72 goals in 114 appearances.

As more news is coming in from Qatar regarding his death, obviously we’ll get a clearer picture of what really happened to a played for the national team in the 2006 World Cup and in two more Copa America tournaments, the last of which in 2011. He last appeared for the national side in a World Cup qualifier against Peru nearly two months ago.

Image: Source