Emanuel Benjamín de Sant'Ana Balbinot (born July 14, 2007) is a footballer who plays as a defender for Real Madrid youth team. Born in Brazil, he represents Italy at youth level.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Emanuel Benjamín de Sant'Ana Balbinot[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 14 July 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Blumenau,[2] Brazil | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Complutense Alcalá | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Rayo Vallecano | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Getafe | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Italy U17 | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:30, 5 June 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
editBenjamín was born in Blumenau, in the South Region of Brazil, to Jefferson Alvés Balbinot and Marcela Regina de Sant'ana Balbinot.[3] In Brazil, he started playing futsal, but in 2018 he and his family moved to Spain.[3]
He is of Italian descent; his grandparents are from Pievepelago, Emilia-Romagna, and he earned Italian citizenship as a result.[4] His brothers, Samuel and Miguel, are also footballers for Atlético Madrid.[4]
Club career
editBenjamín started playing football instead of futsal when he moved to Spain, joining Complutense Alcalá and, one year later, Rayo Vallecano.[4] During his first season at Rayo, he played as a forward, maintaining an average of one goal per game. However, due to his small frame, which was not suited for a true center forward, he was moved to the wing.[3] In 2021 he moved to Getafe and then to Real Madrid "Juvenil A", making in his debuts season 4 goals in 24 games.[4]
International career
editAs Benjamín holds both Italian and Brazilian citizenship, he was eligible to play for both the Italian and Brazilian national teams. In 2024, he was called up for the first time for Italy U17,[5] with whom he won the 2024 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[6]
Honours
editItaly U17
Individual
- UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2024[7]
References
edit- ^ Riccardo Maschere (21 March 2024). "L'Italia si innamora di Benjamin de Sant'ana Balbinot, il nuovo talento del Real Madrid" (in Italian). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Marlos Glatz (23 January 2021). "Blumenauense do Real Madrid é convocado pela seleção sub-17 da Itália" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Valeria Ciuffreda (18 March 2024). "Emanuel Benjamin de Sant'ana Balbinot, un brasiliano in azzurro" (in Italian). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Un Clásico all'italiana, Natali ed Emanuel oltre ogni rivalità: "Siamo diventati amici grazie alla Nazionale"" (in Italian). 29 May 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "I 20 convocati di Favo per la fase finale. Il 21 maggio l'esordio con la Polonia". FIGC (in Italian). 16 May 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b "UEFA Under-17 EURO final report: Italy 3-0 Portugal". 5 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "2024 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.