Nicolas Benezet (born 24 February 1991) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Olympique Alès Olympique Alès is a French association football club founded in 1923, based in the commune of Alès. The Cévennes club currently plays in Championnat National 2, the fourth division of the French football league system. The club in the past ...

Club career

France

Born in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, Benezet played in the youth academy of

before signing with

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

in 2004. He made his professional debut in the 2010–11 season on 15 October 2010 in a league match against

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

appearing as a substitute in a 0–0 draw. On 8 December 2010, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal with Nîmes. Two days later, he rewarded Nîmes by scoring his first professional goal in a 3–2 victory over Istres in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. On 21 December, he scored his first professional league goal in a 2–0 win against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

. At the end of the 2012–13 season, top-flight clubs

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

and

Évian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

showed interest in signing him and in July 2013, Benezet joined Evian. On 3 July 2015, Benezet signed for

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

Major League Soccer

In July 2019, following Guingamp's relegation from

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

, Benezet joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

on loan for the remainder of their season, with the club holding an option to make the transfer permanent at the conclusion of the loan, which would be triggered automatically if he started six regular season matches (he ultimately started five). Toronto chose not to acquire him permanently after the loan due to a lack of salary cap space after the re-signing of Michael Bradley. In January, Benezet returned to MLS, signing with

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

, who paid a $500,000 transfer fee to Guingamp for him, after acquiring his MLS rights from Toronto in a trade. He made his Rapids debut on 12 July against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

at the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League ...

. He earned his first assist in Burgundy on

Kellyn Acosta Kellyn Kai Perry-Acosta (born July 24, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire. Early life Acosta was raised in Plano, Texas. His father is Japanese American while h ...

's opening goal against

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

on 17 July. Benezet finished the season with three assists among 13 appearances, including Colorado's first-round playoff loss at

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the W ...

. On 5 August 2021, Benezet was traded to

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

for $50,000 in general allocation money. He was signed through the end of the 2021 season, with an option for the 2022 season, primarily to provide depth for the team. Benezet made his Sounders debut on 15 August in a 6–2 victory against the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

, entering the match as a substitute and scoring in stoppage time. Following the 2021 season, Seattle declined their contract option on Benezet.

Return to France and spell in Cyprus

In June 2022, Benezet returned to Nîmes and signed a one-year contract with the option to extend for three more seasons. In August 2023, Benezet signed for

Régional 1 The Régional 1, formerly Division d'Honneur or Honneur Ligue is the common generic name for the highest level football league competitions run by each of the 13 Regional Leagues in France. Together, these league competitions serve as the six ...

club

Le Grau-du-Roi Le Grau-du-Roi (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It is the only commune in Gard to have a frontage on the Mediterranean. To the west is the Herault department and La Grande-Motte village, and to the east is the Bouc ...

in order to train with the team while waiting for an offer from a professional club. In late September, he signed a contract with Cypriot club Karmiotissa until the end of the season. However, he terminated his contract with the club in early November, returning to Le Grau-du-Roi until the end of the season. On 30 August 2024, Benezet joined

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

side

Personal life

Benezet is a noted fan of

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, particularly ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 ''Dragon Ball'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

'' and ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

''. Benezet became a father in late 2023. At that time, his wife's family resided in

Career statistics

Honours

Guingamp *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benezet, Nicolas Living people 1991 births Men's association football midfielders French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 3 players Régional 1 players Major League Soccer players Nîmes Olympique players Thonon Evian Grand Genève FC players En Avant Guingamp players Stade Malherbe Caen players Toronto FC players Colorado Rapids players Seattle Sounders FC players ES Grau-du-Roi players Karmiotissa FC players Olympique Alès players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus 21st-century French sportsmen