Benjamín Zarandona

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Personal information
Benjamín
Full name	Benjamín Zarandona Esono
Date of birth	March 2, 1976
Place of birth	Valladolid, Spain
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-96 1995-98 1998-2000 2000-01 2001-05 2005-06	Real Valladolid B Real Valladolid Real Betis Real Betis B Real Betis Cádiz CF (loan)	30 (6) 86 (11) 54 (1) 26 (2) 90 (6) 14 (0)
National team²
1998	Spain U21s	X (X)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 10 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of August 10 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Benjamín Zarandona Esono (born Valladolid, Spain, March 2, 1976), also referred to as Benjamín, is a Spanish footballer who has played as a central or left-sided midfielder for Real Valladolid, Real Betis, Cádiz CF and Spain U-21s.

He began his career with Real Valladolid, playing initially for the reserve team in Segunda División B. The highlight of his career at Real was helping them qualify for the UEFA Cup in 1997. He played four games in the subsequent UEFA Cup campaign. In 1998 he joined Real Betis and in their subsequent UEFA Cup campaign he scored played 4 games and scored 2 goals. In 1998 he also helped Spain U-21s win the UEFA U-21 Championship. Benjamín spent the 2000/01 season playing for Real Betis B in the Segunda División and went on loan to Cádiz CF in 2005/06.

Benjamin’s father was is a Basque and his mother is from Equatorial Guinea. Despite his Basque parentage he has never been approached by Athletic Bilbao and he has never played for the Euskadi XI. Along with other players such as Miguel Jones, Jesus María Pereda and José Eulogio Gárate, he has been cited by critics of Athletics cantera policy as evidence that the policy is exclusivist. He and his brother had played for Ecuatorial Guinea, their mother´s country.