The country says goodbye to Chucho Benitez

The funeral began with a  mass at 12:00 and the subsequent transfer of the body to the cemetery Monteolivo. After the burial of the remains, the club El Nacional, will pay tribute along with the Metropolitan Council of the capital that will give to the relatives of Chucho the postmortem award for Sports Merit City of Quito.

The ceremony will be at the Atahualpa Stadium, where at 14:30 the club will carry out various events before the game against Deportivo Quevedo, for the sixth round of the championship.

Yesterday, thousands of people across the country, passed through the coffin during the wake of Chucho at the  Rumiñahui Coliseum. In the afternoon, the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, attended the wake. “You have become a legend. Today you abandon us physically, but you will live forever in the loving memory of our people,” he said, while he offered to work for the socio-economic equity of Afro-Ecuadorian people and ensured that Chucho’s family will have no economic problems as long as the government of the Citizen Revolution is in power.

During the wake, on a giant screen, were shown videos of the goals of the Tricolor player, photos of his life and soccer career while farewell songs were heard through speakers.