Benjani Mwaruwari

Benjani Mwaruwari

Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Mwaruwari
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Portsmouth
Number	25
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:00, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Benjamin 'Benjani' Mwaruwari (born 13 August 1978 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), is a footballer currently playing for Portsmouth in the Premier League as a striker. He was born to parents of Malawian descent and has chosen to represent Zimbabwe at professional level, the country where he was born and raised. In the Ngonde language, his name should read Mwaluwali but because the Shona language uses 'R' in place of 'L', since 'L' is not part of Shona alphabet, his name now reads Mwaruwari. In Zimbabwe they call him the undertaker for his ability to 'bury' teams. Benjani would score frequently in his playing days in Zimbabwe and ultimately put more goals past teams, hence he was 'burying' them.

Early career

Benjani played for the Lulu Rovers and University of Zimbabwe teams in Zimbabwe's Division one and Air Zimbabwe Jets in the country's Premier League in 1999. He moved to South African club Jomo Cosmos (1999-2001) where he met his mentor Jomo Sono, this was after impressing in the friendly match between South Africa and Zimbabwe that was played to commomerate the inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as the president of South Africa. Zimbabwe won that match 1-0 courtesy of Harlington Shereni's goal at the FNB Stadium.

In 2001 he was voted Footballer of the Year in South Africa alongside Siyabonga Nomvete despite only having joined the South African Premiership in the second half of the season.

Europe

He later moved to Grasshoppers Zürich of Switzerland on loan (2001-2002). Then in 2002, Guy Roux handed him a trial at 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 English Premiership club Portsmouth signed him from Auxerre for a club record fee of £4.1 million after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.

This transfer from Auxerre to Portsmouth in January 2006 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry 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 inquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of (agent) Teni Yerima and (third party) Ralph N’Komo”.

Portsmouth

After failing to score in his first fourteen games for the club, Benjani finally got his first goal for Portsmouth against Wigan Athletic on 29 April 2006 in a 2-1 victory which saw Portsmouth avoid relegation from the Premier League. Benjani has been criticised by some due to a lack of goals, while others disagree, pointing to his work ethic and intelligent link-up play. Regardless, he scored six goals in the 2006-07 season. He then started the next season with goals in the opening two games, at Derby County and at home to champions Manchester United. On 29 September 2007, Benjani scored his first hat-trick for Portsmouth in an incredible 7-4 victory over Reading, 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 Mwaruwari missed a spot-kick in second-half injury time in a home game against West Ham United. He then made amends for his miss scoring in the 4-1 victory over Newcastle United to bring his total to eight this season. He then scored his ninth of the season, albeit it was a consolation goal in a 4-1 defeat at Liverpool. On 19 January 2008, Benjani earned his second Portsmouth hat-trick, scoring all of his side's goals in a 3-1 victory over Derby County at Fratton Park. This took his tally for the season to 12 and subsequently resulted in him revising his target for the season.

The striker's recent form cemented Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson's interest in the player, and on 31 January 2008 he had a bid of £8m accepted for the transfer of the player. Benjani undertook a medical and had a work permit granted, although the paperwork was not completed in time forcing the move to fall through.

Despite refusal from wikipedia.com, reports officially state that Benjani "farted" during the attempted contract signing with Manchester City, wasting valuable seconds and therefore going over the deadline.

National team and country commitments

He is the current Zimbabwe national team captain, having taken the armband from the legendary 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 Ndlovu. In 2003, he became the first Zimbabwean to score in the UEFA Champions League.

Benjani is a key figure in the development of football in Zimbabwe. During the run up to the 2006 African Cup of Nations, he 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 he is expected to spearhead the campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa.

External links

• BBC profile
• Benjamin Mwaruwari at Soccerbase