Jhow Hendric Benavidez Banegas

Real España raised Jhow Benavidez themselves, and he has never worn another club's shirt as a professional. That loyalty was rewarded in 2023, when club president Elías Burbara handed him the number 10 and called him "the brain of the team" as Benavidez signed fresh terms committing him to the club for years to come.

The individual recognition came before that vote of confidence. In January 2019, he was named Best Player of the Honduran Liga Nacional at the New Orleans Awards. What has eluded him, despite the captaincy and the plaudits, is a league title with Real España during his long spell there.

At international level, Benavidez made his debut for Honduras in October 2016 in a friendly win over Belize and has since gathered caps in friendlies against South Korea and El Salvador, in the 2020 CONCACAF Nations League, and across four appearances at the 2021 Gold Cup. Before all that, he had already tasted success with the Honduras under-20 side, winning gold at the 2013 Central American Games in Costa Rica.