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Rodrigo Bentancur

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Bentancur and the second or maternal family name is Colmán.
Rodrigo Bentancur
Bentancur with Uruguay in 2017
Personal information
Full name Rodrigo Bentancur Colman[1]
Date of birth (1997-06-25) 25 June 1997 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Nueva Helvecia, Uruguay
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Tottenham Hotspur
Number 30
Youth career
2009–2015 Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Boca Juniors 51 (1)
2017–2022 Juventus 133 (2)
2022– Tottenham Hotspur 68 (7)
International career‡
2017 Uruguay U20 14 (1)
2017– Uruguay 67 (3)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Uruguay
Copa América
Third place 2024 United States
South American U-20 Championship
Winner 2017
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:05, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 02:50, 20 November 2024 (UTC)

Rodrigo Bentancur Colman (born 25 June 1997) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Uruguay national team.

Bentancur started his career in the youth system of Argentine side Boca Juniors in 2009. He was promoted to the senior squad in 2015, winning two Primera División titles and a Copa Argentina with the team. He was then signed by Italian club Juventus in 2017, where he won three consecutive Serie A titles, among other trophies. In January 2022, Bentancur joined Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

At international level, Bentancur was a member of the Uruguay U20 squad that won the 2017 South American U-20 Championship. He made his senior debut for Uruguay in 2017, representing the side at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022, and the Copa América in 2019, 2021 and 2024.

Early life

[edit]

Bentancur was born on 25 June 1997 in Nueva Helvecia, Colonia to Roberto Bentancur and Mary Colmán. He has a younger brother, Damián, and was nicknamed Lolo growing up as Damián couldn't pronounce Rodrigo as a child. Bentancur is of Irish, Spanish, and Swiss descent.[3]

Bentancur training with Boca Juniors in 2016

When Bentancur was four years of age, his mother died of an undisclosed illness. Thereafter, he wore the number 30 shirt in her honour; an homage of her birthday. Roberto eventually remarried to Cecilia Agredi, an Argentine of Italian descent. Together, the two bore female twins, Cande and Mica, Rodrigo and Damián's half-sisters.[4]

Passionate about football since childhood, Bentancur eventually enrolled in Boca Juniors youth academy in 2009 after Horacio Anselmi, a longtime representative for the club, scouted him.[5]

Club career

[edit]

Boca Juniors

[edit]

On 12 April 2015, he made his first team debut for the Boca Juniors in a league game against Nueva Chicago. He replaced Pablo Pérez after 77 minutes in a 0–0 home draw.[6] His stint at Boca is mainly remembered[7] for his significant mistake against San Lorenzo, when he passed the ball to a rival forward (Mauro Matos) who then easily scored a last-minute victory goal that put his team at the top of the league, above Boca (in spite of this, they ended up winning the 2015 Argentine Primera División).[8] He would make a similar mistake some years later, this time playing for Juventus, with a back-pass blunder inside his own penalty area which put his team one nil down in the first seconds of the game, in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 (they ended up being eliminated due to the away goals rule).[9]

On 13 July 2015, Bentancur, Guido Vadalá, Franco Cristaldo and Adrián Cubas became part of Carlos Tevez's deal, which saw Juventus have the first option to sign the youngsters until 20 April 2017, with Vadalá also joining Juventus on loan for the 2015–2017 seasons. Bentancur was tagged for €9.4 million.[10] Juventus's CEO Giuseppe Marotta later confirmed that Juventus would be exercising their option to sign Bentancur in 2017.[11] He arrived in Turin on 3 April 2017[citation needed] and completed his medical on the same day.[12] On 21 April 2017 Juventus completed their acquisition of Bentancur, signing him on a five-year deal effective from 1 July 2017 until 30 June 2022 for a €9.5 million transfer fee, plus additional performance based bonuses. Boca Juniors are also entitled to 50% of any future transfer fee that Juventus receive for Bentancur.[13] Bentancur subsequently returned to Argentina to play out the remainder of the 2016–17 season with Boca Juniors.[14]

Juventus

[edit]
Bentancur playing for Juventus in 2019

Bentancur formally became a player of Juventus on 1 July 2017, after the club activated the option to sign him in April 2017, in a deal which would keep him at the club until 2022. The first option to sign Bentancur was bought as part of Carlos Tevez's deal in July 2015.[15][16] He made his club debut on 26 August 2017, coming on as a substitute in a 4–2 away win over Genoa in Serie A.[17][18] On 6 October 2018, Bentancur scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 away win over Udinese in Serie A.[19] During his time with the club, Italian newspapers nicknamed him as Principe.

Tottenham Hotspur

[edit]

On 31 January 2022, Bentancur joined Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee.[20][21] Bentancur made his debut for Spurs on 5 February in the FA Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, coming on a substitute in match that finished in a 3–1 win.[22] He made his Premier League debut nine days later, coming on as a substitute for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in a 2–3 loss against Southampton.[23]

On 18 September 2022, Bentancur scored his first goal for the club in a Premier League game against Leicester City, the third goal in a 6–2 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.[24] Later on in the season, Bentancur scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a group stage match - an equaliser against Sporting CP. The match ended 1–1. He continued his goal-scoring form in Spurs' league fixture three days later, coming off the bench to score an injury-time winner against AFC Bournemouth, completing a 3–2 comeback after they had gone 2–0 down.[25] Two weeks later he registered his first brace in the Premier League, with two late goals against Leeds United to secure a 4–3 victory for Spurs.[26]

Bentancur playing for Tottenham Hotspur in 2022

On 11 February 2023, Bentancur suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a match against Leicester City, which would rule him out of the team for the rest of the season.[27]

Bentancur eventually made his return on 27 October 2023, coming off the bench late in a 1–2 away win against Crystal Palace in game week 10. However, just a month after his return, on 26 November during a 1–2 defeat against Aston Villa, Bentancur tore his ankle ligaments.[28][29] Despite being ruled out for 8 to 10 weeks, Bentancur returned against Bournemouth on 31 December 2023, a little over four weeks later. Bentancur captained the side for the first time in a 1–0 FA Cup win over Burnley on 5 January 2024 and he scored his first goal since his return from injury on 15 January 2024, Tottenham's second equaliser in a 2–2 draw away to Manchester United.[30] In November 2024, he received a seven-game suspension and imposed with a fine of £100,000 by the English FA for allegedly making a racist comment toward his teammate Son Heung-min.[31][32]

International career

[edit]

Bentancur was a member of Uruguay national under-20 team, winning the 2017 South American U-20 Championship[33] and finishing fourth at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[34]

In September 2017, Bentancur received his first senior call-up to the Uruguay national team by manager Óscar Tabárez for the team's upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia in October.[35] He made his international debut on 5 October, coming on as a substitute in Uruguay's 0–0 away draw against Venezuela.[36][37] He was named in the squad for the China Cup in March 2018.[38]

In May 2018, Bentancur was named in Uruguay's provisional 26-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[39] He was later included in the team's final 23-man squad for the tournament.[40] He appeared in Uruguay's opening match of the tournament on 15 June, a 1–0 victory over Egypt at the Yekaterinburg Arena.[41] In the Round of 16 match against Portugal on 30 June, he set-up Edinson Cavani's second goal in an eventual 2–1 victory.[42] Uruguay were eliminated from the tournament following a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions France in the quarter-finals on 6 July.[43]

Bentancur was a member of Uruguay's squads for both the 2019 and 2021 Copas Américas.[44] The team reached the quarter-finals on both occasions, being eliminated by Peru and Colombia respectively, both in penalty shootouts.[45][46]

On 2 February 2022, Bentancur scored his first goal for Uruguay in a 4–1 win over Venezuela in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.[33]

In November of the same year, he was named in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar. He started all three Group H matches for La Celeste but was substituted with an injury in the final fixture against Ghana.[33] Uruguay won the match 2–0 but were eliminated as South Korea beat Portugal to go through to the round of 16 at Uruguay's expense.[47]

Style of play

[edit]

A dynamic, hard-working, skillful, elegant, and tactically versatile midfielder, who is comfortable using either foot, Bentancur has been described as a tall and "physically strong" player, who is capable of playing in any midfield position, including as a defensive midfielder, as a central midfielder, as a winger on either flank, in a box-to-box role, or even as a mezzala, or as an attacking midfielder behind the forwards, due to his ability to make attacking runs from behind.[15][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]

He also possesses good close control, technique, and quick footwork, which enable him to get past opponents when in possession, while his vision, intelligence, personality, and incisive passing also allow him to set the tempo of his team's play in a more creative role as a regista deep in midfield, and create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates after winning back the ball.[48][49][50][51][56][57][58] His height and strong frame also enable him to act as a "target man" in an advanced midfield role;[50] he has even played as a second striker on occasion.[59]

Although his acceleration is not particularly impressive, he is also a mobile player, who is capable of pressing opponents further up the pitch. Moreover, he has also drawn praise in the media for his composure and quick-thinking both with and without the ball.[50][51] Due to his precociousness, talent, maturity, and wide range of skills, he is considered to be a highly promising young player in the media.[50][51]

Personal life

[edit]

Bentancur is currently in a long-term relationship with Melany La Banca, an Argentine-Uruguayan from Quilmes, since 2015.[60]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]
As of match played 10 November 2024[61]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Boca Juniors 2015 Argentine Primera División 18 0 6 0 — 1[c] 0 — 25 0
2016 Argentine Primera División 11 1 3 0 — 5[c] 0 — 19 1
2016–17 Argentine Primera División 22 0 0 0 — 0 0 — 22 0
Total 51 1 9 0 — 6 0 – 66 1
Juventus 2017–18 Serie A 20 0 2 0 — 5[d] 0 0 0 27 0
2018–19 Serie A 31 2 1 0 — 7[d] 0 1[e] 0 40 2
2019–20 Serie A 30 0 5 1 — 7[d] 0 1[e] 0 43 1
2020–21 Serie A 33 0 4 0 — 7[d] 0 1[e] 0 45 0
2021–22 Serie A 19 0 1 0 — 5[d] 0 1[e] 0 26 0
Total 133 2 13 1 — 31 0 4 0 181 3
Tottenham Hotspur 2021–22 Premier League 17 0 1 0 — — — 18 0
2022–23 Premier League 18 5 1 0 1 0 6[d] 1 — 26 6
2023–24 Premier League 23 1 1 0 0 0 — — 24 1
2024–25 Premier League 10 1 0 0 2 0 2[f] 0 — 14 1
Total 68 7 3 0 3 0 8 1 — 82 8
Career total 252 10 25 1 3 0 45 1 4 0 329 12
  1. ^ Includes Copa Argentina, Coppa Italia, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
  4. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ a b c d Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

[edit]
As of match played 19 November 2024[62]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Uruguay 2017 4 0
2018 13 0
2019 12 0
2020 4 0
2021 12 0
2022 9 1
2023 2 0
2024 11[a] 2
Total 67 3
  1. ^ Includes a non-FIFA friendly played against Basque Country, which is counted as an official match by Uruguayan Football Association.
Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bentancur goal.
List of international goals scored by Rodrigo Bentancur[62]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 1 February 2022 Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay  Venezuela 1–0 4–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 27 June 2024 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States  Bolivia 5–0 5–0 2024 Copa América
3 13 July 2024 Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, United States  Canada 1–0 2–2 (4–3 p) 2024 Copa América

Honours

[edit]

Boca Juniors[61]

Juventus[61]

Uruguay U20

Uruguay

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Uruguay" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Rodrigo Bentancur". Premier League. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  3. ^ Hendrix, Hale (22 February 2022). "Rodrigo Bentancur Childhood Story Plus Untold Biography Facts". LifeBogger. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  4. ^ Señorans, Jorge. "Rodrigo Bentancur, el niño que le ganó el partido a la vida". El Observador. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Rodrigo Bentancur, el joven que juega con la Celeste en el alma y el número 30 en el corazón". ESPNdeportes.com (in Spanish). 7 October 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Boca Juniors vs. Nueva Chicago - 12 April 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Rodrigo Bentancur - Trayectoria y Biografía de Jugadores - Historia de Boca Juniors".
  8. ^ Fuentes, Andres (11 December 2022). "Surgió de Boca, ahora lo quieren el Real Madrid y otros dos grandes europeos". El Futbolero Argentina (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  9. ^ "El grosero error de Bentancur que posibilitó el gol del Porto ante Juventus: El mal recuerdo que les trajo a los hinchas de Boca". 17 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Agreements with Boca Juniors" (PDF). Juventus F.C. 13 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Signing with Bentnacur". GOAL. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
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  16. ^ Mirko Calemme (3 April 2017). "Juventus announce signing of Rodrigo Bentancur from Boca". AS.com. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
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  21. ^ "Suerte, Rodri!". www.juventus.com/en. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  22. ^ Speck, Ivan. "Space invader Dejan Kulusevski ups the ante at Tottenham with a sureness of touch". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022.
  23. ^ Tottenham Hotspur [@SpursOfficial] (9 February 2022). "A Premier League debut for Rodrigo Bentancur. 👏 ➡️ Bentancur ⬅️ Højbjerg ⚪️ 1-1 🟡 (58') https://t.co/T1wLO8Z38u" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Tottenham 6-2 Leicester: Heung-min Son ends drought with second half hat-trick". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  25. ^ "Bentancur scores late winner as Spurs fight back". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Spurs 4-3 Leeds United". Tottenham Hotspur. 12 November 2022.
  27. ^ Romano, Fabrizio (12 February 2023). "Rodrigo Bentancur out for rest of season in major blow to Tottenham". The Guardian.
  28. ^ sebastianemanuel5 (28 November 2023). "Breaking: Rodrigo Bentancur out with torn ankle ligaments". Cartilage Free Captain. Retrieved 30 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ Gold, Alasdair (28 November 2023). "Rodrigo Bentancur injury update leaves Postecoglou with big January problems". Football London. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  30. ^ "Tottenham fight back to earn draw at Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  31. ^ Hughes, Matt (13 November 2024). "Bentancur set for lengthy ban over alleged racist remark about teammate". The Guardian.
  32. ^ "Bentancur banned 7 games, fined £100k for racist remark about Spurs teammate Son". South China Morning Post. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  33. ^ a b c "Rodrigo Bentancur Profile Statistics & Latest News". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Bentancur: the young talent of a consistent Uruguay". FIFA. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  35. ^ "Bentancur gets Uruguay call". Football Italia. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  36. ^ Stefano Lanzo (7 October 2017). "Juventus, Bentancur promosso anche da Tabarez" (in Italian). Tutto Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  37. ^ "Venezuela vs. Uruguay 0 - 0". Soccerway. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  38. ^ "Torreira earns first Uruguayan call-up". getfootballnewsitaly.com. Get Italian Football News. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  39. ^ Crawford, Stephen (16 May 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced?". Goal.com.
  40. ^ Sam Tremlett (15 June 2018). "Uruguay World Cup Fixtures, Squad, Group, Guide". World Soccer. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  41. ^ JJ Bull (15 June 2018). "World Cup 2018: Jose Gimenez grabs late winner for Uruguay to break Egyptian hearts - live reaction". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  42. ^ Gary Rose (30 June 2018). "Uruguay 2-1 Portugal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  43. ^ Bevan, Chris (6 July 2018). "Uruguay 0 France 2". BBC Sport. Nizhny Novgorod. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  44. ^ "Uruguay Team Squads Copa America 2019". copaamerica2019.live. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  45. ^ "Uruguay 0–0 Peru". BBC Sport. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  46. ^ "Ospina is the hero as Colombia reach the semis on penalties". Marca. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  47. ^ "Uruguay out despite Ghana victory". FIFA. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  48. ^ a b "Juventus, Bentancur ha firmato fino al 2022: "Mi manda Tevez, darò il massimo"" (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  49. ^ a b Marco Gentile (11 August 2016). "Calciomercato, ecco chi è Bentancur: il talento che piace a Milan e Juventus" (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  50. ^ a b c d e Matthew Stanger (18 July 2018). "World Cup scouting spotlight: Moussa Wague, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mario Fernandes". ESPN FC. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  51. ^ a b c d Marcus Haydon (13 April 2016). "Rodrigo Bentancur: Who is the Arsenal-scouted Boca teen who almost joined Real Madrid in January?". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  52. ^ "Juve, Matuidi e Bentancur hanno conquistato tutti" (in Italian). www.calciomercato.com. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  53. ^ Elvira Erbì (1 February 2017). ""Bentancur come Pogba". E la Juventus scopre un vero duro" (in Italian). Tutto Sport. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  54. ^ Martin Mazur (12 August 2016). "Bentancur, un po' Pastore un po' Veron: il Milan vuole il regista del Boca Juniors". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  55. ^ Balice, Nicola (22 January 2020). "Juve-Roma, le pagelle di CM: Ronaldo onnipotente, Rabiot in crescita. Flop Florenzi e Cristante" (in Italian). www.calciomercato.com. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  56. ^ Jacopo Gerna (21 September 2017). "Juventus, Bentancur è un gioiello: "E posso crescere ancora molto..."". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  57. ^ Jacopo Fossanova (24 March 2017). "Bentancur parla già da juventino: "Visite mediche presto. Ma ora penso a chiudere bene col Boca"" (in Italian). Eurosport.com. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  58. ^ Caferoglu, Livio (21 May 2020). "The problem with Pjanic". Football Italia. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  59. ^ "Juventus, Bentancur talento universale: 10 giocatori a cui è stato accostato". Tutto Sport (in Italian). 26 September 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  60. ^ "Chi è Melany La Blanca? La compagna di Rodrigo Bentancur". Bigodino (in Italian). 19 July 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  61. ^ a b c Rodrigo Bentancur at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  62. ^ a b "Rodrigo Bentancur". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  63. ^ "Rodrigo Amaral se pone a punto con Andrés Barrios" (in Spanish). Ir21.com.uy. 22 February 2017.
  64. ^ "Uruguay beats Canada on penalties to finish CONMEBOL Copa América™ in 3rd Place". 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
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