Benjani Mwaruwari
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| Benjani | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin "Alessio" Mwaruwari | |
| Date of birth | 13 August 1978 | |
| Place of birth | Bulawayo, Rhodesia | |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Manchester City | |
| Number | 27 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1995 1996-1998 1998-1999 |
Lulu Rovers University of Zimbabwe Air Zimbabwe Jets |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1999–2001 2001–2002 2002–2006 2006–2008 2008– |
Jomo Cosmos → Grasshoppers (loan) Auxerre Portsmouth Manchester City |
44 (20) 25 (1) 72 (19) 70 (19) 13 (3) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998– | Zimbabwe | 33 (9) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Benjamin "Alessio" Mwaruwari, commonly known as Benjani, (born 13 August 1978 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) is a footballer currently playing for Manchester City. He was born to parents of Malawian descent and has chosen to represent his nation of birth, Zimbabwe, internationally.
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[edit] Early career
Benjani began his career at 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 in 1999 where he met his mentor Jomo Sono, 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
[edit] Europe
Benjani moved to Grasshoppers Zürich of Switzerland on loan in 2001. In 2002, Guy Roux took him 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 English Premiership club Portsmouth signed him from Auxerre for £4.1 million after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.[1]
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”[2].
[edit] 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.[3] On 29 September 2007, Benjani scored his first hat-trick for Portsmouth in an incredible 7-4 win 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.[4] 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, which had been 10.
Benjani's goalscoring form during the first half of the 2007/08 cemented Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson's interest in the striker, and on 31 January 2008 he 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, meaning he didn't arrive at the clubs training ground until 11.10pm, leaving insufficient time to complete a move before the midnight deadline.[5] Portsmouth had already confirmed the signing of Benjani's replacement, Jermain Defoe for a fee in the region of £9,000,000 from Tottenham Hotspur, with the impending sale of Benjani supposedly funding the majority of the transfer.
[edit] Manchester City
A transfer was completed for Benjani to move to Manchester City 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. His debut came on 10 February 2008 against rival Manchester United in a 2-1 victory to City. He scored the second goal from a header in his first Manchester derby.[6]. His first goal at the City of Manchester Stadium was ironically against his former club Portsmouth on the 20th April 2008, although Benjani refused to celebrate after the goal out of respect for his former club, stating in a post match interview that he would never celebrate a goal against Portsmouth because the club and its fans had been so good to him. His Second goal, came in the 2-3 home loss against Fulham, from a peach of a cross by Vassell, which left Benjani to poke the ball in from 6 yards. He returned to his former self with his goal celebration to please the Manchester City Supporters.
[edit] International football
He 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 Ndlovu.
Benjani is a key figure in the development of football in Zimbabwe.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
[edit] Name
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.[citation needed]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Portsmouth sign striker Mwaruwari, BBC News, 6 January 2006.
- ^ "What Stevens said about each club", www.telegraph.co.uk, 2007-06-16. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
- ^ "Portsmouth laud hero Mwaruwari", BBC Sport, 2006-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ "Harry blast for striker Benjani", teamtalk.com, 2007-10-28. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ "Eriksson won’t lose sleep over sealing Benjani deal", dailymail.co.uk, 2008-02-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ Benjani completes Man City move. BBC Online (2008-02-05). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
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