Argentina international Walter Benítez will link up with Crystal Palace from 1st July – but the 32-year-old goalkeeper is by no means the first South American to represent the red and blue...
There has been plenty of South American flair in South London previously – how many of these players do you remember?
An Argentinian goalkeeper at Crystal Palace, you say?
Julián Speroni. Is there anything more we need to add? One of Palace’s all-time greats, making over 400 appearances across 15 glorious years. Hillsborough, Wembley. A four-time Player of the Year (still a record to this day).
Now back as an Academy coach, Speroni is invested in the next generation.
“Time has gone so quickly,” he told the club’s matchday programme. “I went through everything really, it was a rollercoaster of ups and downs but I enjoyed every minute. There were tough times of course, but that’s part of the game and that makes you develop. It makes you a better player, a better person - hopefully - and it’s a journey that I guess footballers have to go through.
“One day when I won’t be here anymore, hopefully the fans – if they think of me, if they remember me – they will think: ‘Okay, this guy performed at this club for service. He gave everything he could.’ A big thank you to everyone for all these years.”
Thank you Julian.
Palace's very first Colombian player, Jefferson Lerma, joined Palace in the summer of 2023, following the expiration of his contract at Bournemouth.
He has since made 73 appearances in the red and blue, scoring the club's 1000th top-flight goal with a stunning strike against Chelsea at Selhurst Park in February 2024.
In that time, he has remained a regular for Los Cafeteros, winning 54 caps, featuring in every one of his country's matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and playing a starring role in his country's run to the Copa América final last year.
It was not long after Lerma's arrival that Daniel Muñoz became our second Colombian international, joining from Genk in January 2024 – and also going on to impress at the Copa América, with goals against Brazil and Paraguay in the finals.
The marauding wing-back has played 62 times and – in that period – registered 18 goal contributions (six goals, 12 assists).
In his first full season with the club, 2024/25, Muñoz won both Palace's Men's Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards; completed more tackles (123) than any other top-flight defender (only Everton’s Idrissa Gueye completed more); and help his side, along with Lerma, to an FA Cup win and a record Premier League points tally.
"Croydon is Colombia", the duo recently said – and who are we to disagree?
Promotion-winning hero Andre Moritz signed for Crystal Palace in 2012 and proved an immediate hit, scoring his first goal for the club in Ian Holloway’s first game in charge in November.
He stamped his name in Palace folklore on New Year’s Day, scoring two free-kicks against Wolverhampton Wanderers. His final appearances for the club, during a whirlwind spell, came at Wembley as a second-half substitute, as he helped the Eagles to an extra-time victory over Watford and a Premier League place.
But while we may think of Brazil as the spiritual home of football, for Moritz it is the other way around.
“Every player I’ve played with from Brazil said: ‘Jesus, man, you’ve played in England. How is English football?’ Even the players love English football, the way it’s played, the way it’s moved, everything behind the scenes,” he told the club last year.
“It’s not just a football match, it’s a show. The whole world talks about English football. It’s normal. You [English fans] cannot imagine it the other way around, but trust me it’s really normal and easy to understand [for non-English fans].”
Those sentiments were shared by midfielder Fumaca, who made three appearances on loan in 1999, and goalkeepers Diego Cavalieri and Lucas Perri, who had short stints at Selhurst Park on loan before moving on to Botafogo. The latter returned during a mid-season friendly in December 2022, and told the club’s programme of his fond memories years later.
“For me it’s the most incredible city in the world,” he said. “I lived in a pretty nice area with a view of the London Eye and Big Ben, so it was amazing, fantastic.
“Palace is a great club, a fantastic club in the Premier League and I really wanted to have this experience in my life. It was a great opportunity, I learned a lot from the time I spent there. I really wanted this moment to happen.
“It was a whole different level of competitiveness, strength, velocity and speed of football. It was incredible for me as a player to be involved in that scenario.”
Exciting young attacker Matheus França, meanwhile, arrived in the summer of 2024 from Flamengo, and is 19 appearances into his Palace career, scoring his first goal for the Eagles in dramatic fashion away at Southampton in 2024/25.
“I felt really happy," he told Palace TV after the injury-time goal. "I'm really happy to be back in this team and to score my first goal in the Palace shirt – it was amazing.
“I've been training a lot, and I did it in the game! That's good, I can [score] with the head. If I have a chance to shoot, I do it.
“He [Oliver Glasner] said [before I came on] to do my job. He gave me confidence to do what I do in training. I was thinking on the bench: ‘I can change this game. I can score one goal.’ And that I put this in my mind, and I could do it in the game, was really good.”
Joining Palace in 2008, Neil Danns made 103 Championship appearances for Palace after coming through the youth system at Blackburn under Graeme Souness. He was twice nominated for the club’s Player of the Year award, and scored a crucial goal against Leeds to ensure Championship survival in 2011.
He would go on to earn 23 caps for Guyana, and managed Macclesfield last season.
Fellow countryman Leon Cort spent two seasons at Selhurst Park from 2006, being named Player of the Year in 2007 under Peter Taylor, before departing for Stoke City.
Ivan Kaviedes made just four appearances for Crystal Palace after joining in 2004, but his career was a remarkable one which took in 17 clubs and saw him make 57 appearances for the national side – including at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
A predatory striker with an eye for goal, he scored 136 goals for club and country before retiring in 2014.
Venezuelan midfielder Fernando de Ornelas featured nine times for Crystal Palace in 1999, in a storied career which saw him play in Norway, Hong Kong, Cyprus and more – and earn 27 caps for his country along the way. After retiring he settled in Norway where he works as a pastor.
Born in Montevideo, defender Gonzalo Sorondo earned a big move to Italian giants Inter Milan in 2001, before joining Palace on loan in 2004 and making 20 appearances. From the San Siro to Selhurst, he impressed sufficiently to earn 27 international caps. He featured at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
