Benjamin Mwaruwari

Benjamin "Benjani" Mwaruwari (born 13 August 1978) is a Zimbabwe association football who plays for Manchester City F.C. as a striker. Benjamin Mwaruwari was born to parents of Malawian descent and has chosen to represent Benjamin Mwaruwari nation of birth, Zimbabwe national football team, internationally.

Early career

Benjani began Benjamin Mwaruwari career at the Lulu Rovers, Zimba Africa Rivers , University of Zimbabwe teams in Zimbabwe's Division one and Air Zimbabwe Jets in the country's Premier League in 1999. Benjamin Mwaruwari moved to South African club Jomo Cosmos Football Club in 1999 where Benjamin Mwaruwari met Benjamin Mwaruwari mentor Jomo Sono, after impressing in the friendly match between South Africa national football team and Zimbabwe national football team that was played to commemorate the inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as the president of South Africa.

In 2001, Benjamin Mwaruwari was voted PSL Player of the Season and PSL Players' Player of the Season in South Africa.

Europe

Benjani moved to Grasshoppers Zürich of Switzerland on loan in 2001. In 2002, Guy Roux took Benjamin Mwaruwari to AJ Auxerre of France. Benjani had a good run at the start, capitalising from Djibril Cissé's absence, becoming top goalscorer in Ligue 1. Roux never played the two together, and eventually Benjani found himself surplus to requirements under Roux's successor, Jacques Santini, this time forced out of the 4-5-1 formation by Luigi Pieroni. On 5 January 2006 Premier League club Portsmouth F.C. signed Benjamin Mwaruwari from Auxerre for £4.1 million after Arsenal F.C. manager Arsène Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.

This transfer from Auxerre to Portsmouth in January 2006 is one of those about which the 2006 allegations of corruption in English football Stevens report report in June 2007 expressed concerns:

“Agent Willie McKay acted for the selling club, Auxerre, in the transfer of Benjani and, for the same reason as above” {still awaiting clarification) “the inquiry is not prepared to clear these transfers at this stage.”

“In relation to Benjani’s transfer, the enquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of (agent) Teni Yerima and (third party) Ralph N’Komo”.

Portsmouth

After failing to score in Benjamin Mwaruwari first fourteen games for the club, Benjani finally got Benjamin Mwaruwari first goal for Portsmouth against Wigan Athletic F.C. on 29 April 2006 in a 2–1 victory which saw Portsmouth avoid relegation from the Premier League. On 29 September 2007, Benjani scored Benjamin Mwaruwari first hat-trick for Portsmouth in a 7–4 win over Reading F.C., which broke the record for both the number of goals scored in a Premier League match, and a league match shown on Match of the Day. After Portsmouth's visit to Wigan on 20 October, Benjani became the Premier League's top scorer.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp banned Benjani from taking any further penalties after Benjamin Mwaruwari missed a spot-kick in second-half injury time in a home game against West Ham United F.C.. Benjamin Mwaruwari then made amends for Benjamin Mwaruwari miss scoring in the 4–1 victory over Newcastle United F.C. to bring Benjamin Mwaruwari total to eight for the season. Benjamin Mwaruwari then scored Benjamin Mwaruwari ninth of the season, albeit a consolation goal in a 4–1 defeat at Liverpool F.C.. On 19 January 2008, Benjani earned Benjamin Mwaruwari second Portsmouth hat-trick, scoring all of Benjamin Mwaruwari side's goals in a 3–1 victory over Derby County F.C. at Fratton Park. This took Benjamin Mwaruwari tally for the season to 12 and subsequently resulted in Benjamin Mwaruwari revising Benjamin Mwaruwari target for the season, which had been 10.

Benjani's goalscoring form during the first half of the 2007-08 in English football season cemented Manchester City F.C. manager Sven-Göran Eriksson's interest in the striker, and on 31 January 2008 Benjamin Mwaruwari had a bid of around £8m accepted for the transfer of the player. However, it was revealed that Benjani had missed two successive planes to Manchester (supposedly due to Benjamin Mwaruwari falling asleep at the airport), meaning Benjamin Mwaruwari didn't arrive at the clubs training ground until 11.10pm, leaving insufficient time to complete a move before the midnight deadline. Portsmouth had already confirmed the signing of Benjani's replacement, Jermain Defoe, for a fee in the region of £9 million from Tottenham Hotspur F.C., with the impending sale of Benjani supposedly funding the majority of the transfer.

Manchester City

A transfer was completed for Benjani to move to Manchester City F.C. on 5 February 2008 for a fee of £3.87 million. Further payments could be made if the player makes up to 75 senior starts which would raise the fee to a total of £7.6 million.

International career

Benjamin Mwaruwari is the current Zimbabwe national team captain, having taken the armband from Peter Ndlovu after the 2006 African Cup of Nations.

Benjani is the third Zimbabwean to play in the English Premiership after goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar and Peter Ndlovu.

Benjani is a key figure in the development of football in Zimbabwe. During the run up to the 2006 African Cup of Nations, Benjamin Mwaruwari provided the funding for the senior national team's stay in France when they were preparing for the African soccer showcase.

Many Zimbabwean journalists, including Fidel M. Bondamakara, are of the view that Benjani's contributions will go a long way in upgrading Zimbabwean soccer standards. After Zimbabwe's failure to qualify for the 2008 African Cup of Nations Benjamin Mwaruwari is expected to spearhead the campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa.

Name

In the Nyakyusa language, Benjamin Mwaruwari name should read Mwaluwali but because the Shona language uses 'R' in place of 'L', since 'L' is not part of the Shona alphabet, Benjamin Mwaruwari name now reads Mwaruwari.