El primero de mayo/May 1st

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¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Christian Benitez! (1986-2013)
Photos from newsmax.com. Click HERE. 

Christian "Chucho" Benitez was an Ecuadorian soccer star who passed away from a heart attack due to a preexisting condition in July of 2013. At the time, he was playing professional soccer for El Jaish in the Qatar Stars League. His funeral was attended by thousands in Ecuador, including President Rafael Correa. The son of Ermen Benítez, a former professional soccer player for Ecuador, Benitez was married to Liseth Chalá, the daughter of Cléber Chalá, also a former player. He and Liseth had twins, born in August of 2009, and his son, especially, has been outspoken in about how much he misses his father (see his Twitter message from July of 2017 HERE). After his death, Benitez's international teammate and friend Antonio Valencia had Benitez's number (11) tattooed onto his upper arm.

See Chucho's father and several young Ecuadorian soccer players talk about what he meant to them in  a news story (in Spanish) from Teleamazonas Ecuador, HERE.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

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