Benjani Mwaruwari
Benjani Mwaruwari is a Zimbabwean born footballer. He has played for various clubs in Europe for clubs such as Auxerre of France and Manchester City of England. He also had an outstanding career with the Zimbabwe National Soccer Team known as the Warriors. On 25 September 2002, Benjani became the first Zimbabwean to score a goal in the UEFA Champions League.
Benjani Mwaruwari Background
Benjani was born on August 13, 1978 to Malawian parents. His father Amos Mwarurwari passed away in 2015. He is married to Thembi and the couple have four children.
Benjani Mwaruwari Football career
Benjani started his football career at Young Blood, then joined Highlanders Football Club juniors before moving to Lulu Rovers Football Club and eventually Air Zimbabwe Jets. He got his big break when he signed for Jomo Cosmos of South Africa. Benjani did not play long for Cosmos as he made a move to join Grasshoppers Zurich in Switzerland. From then on Benjani played for many other clubs around Europe such as Manchester City and Auxerre. He also had a very impressive international career with the warriors scoring goals.
Benjani Mwaruwari
One of his career highlights was when he scored one of the goals at the Africa Cup Of Nations against Ghana. Mwaruwari was also captain of the warriors up to the time that he retired. In total Benjani has 44 caps with the national team scoring 22 goals in the process. When Mwaruwari stopped playing in England, he came to South Africa where he wound up his football career. He has played along some of the best footballers to play the game of football, the list includes Nwanku Kanu, Robinho, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Sol Campbell, Djibril Cisse and Kalilou Fadiga.
Benjani Mwaruwari Clubs Played for
- AJ Auxerre FC
- Manchester City FC
- Portsmouth FC
- Jomo Cosmos FC
- Highlanders Football Club
- Blackburn Rovers FC
- Sunderland FC
- Bidvest Wits
Benjani Mwaruwari International career
Benjani is a former captain of the Zimbabwe national team, having taken the armband from former Coventry City, Birmingham, Sheffield United and Huddersfield Striker Peter Ndlovu when he retired from international football after the 2006 African Cup of Nations. He is the third Zimbabwean to play in the Premier League after goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who played for Liverpool and Peter Ndlovu, who played for Coventry City and Sheffield United amongst others.
During the run up to the 2006 African Cup of Nations, Benjani provided the funding for the senior national team’s stay in France when they were preparing for the competition.
Benjani retired from international football on 11 October 2010, following Zimbabwe’s 0–0 draw with Cape Verde.