Every celebrity leave a mark, whether he or she is in music, cricket or football, however not everyone has a privilege to built a legacy that will be remembered by future generations yet to come.
Our Zimbabwean born footballer, Benjani Mwaruwari’s legacy will live forever.
Mwaruwari was born on 13 August 1978 in the second largest City of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo to Malawian parents and is currently married with four children.
Benjani started his football career at a tender age then joined Highlanders Football Club juniors before moving to Lulu Rovers Football Club and eventually Air Zimbabwe Jets in the country’s Premier League in 1999 . He got his big break when he signed for Jomo Cosmos of South Africa in 1999 where he met his mentor, Jomo Sono, after impressing in the friendly match between South Africa and Zimbabwe that was played to commemorate the inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as the president of South Africa.
In 2001 he was voted PSL player of the season and PSL player’s of the season in South Africa.
The Zimbabwean legend did not play long for Cosmos as he made a move to join Grasshoppers Zurich in Switzerland on loan in 2001. In 2002, Guy Roux took him to Auxerre of France. Benjani had a good run at the start, capitalizing from Djibril Cisse’s absence, becoming top goal scorer 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. While at Auxerre, Benjani scored the opening goal in the 2005 Coupe de France final as they defeated Paris st Germain, he also played as a substitute in the final as they won the tournament two years earlier in 2003. On 5 January 2006, English Premiere League Portsmouth signed him from Auxerre for £4.1 million after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.
Furthermore, another transfer was completed for Benjani to move to Manchester City on 5 February 2008 for a fee of £3.87 million on a two-and-a-half-year deal. At City his wage was reported at £50,000 a week however his debut came on 10 February 2008 against rivals Manchester United in a 2–1 victory to City. He scored the second goal from a header in his first Manchester derby. His first goal at the Manchester City stadium was against his former club Portsmouth on 20 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 next goal came in the 3–2 home loss against Fulham.
After a lengthy thigh injury, Benjani made a goal scoring return for the reserves, before following this up days later by making an impact as a second half substitute, scoring what would be the winning goal in City’s 3–2 win over Twente, he scored again in the UEFA CUP with an away goal against Schalke. His former club Portsmouth were fined £15,000 for his transfer to and from the club, after they were found to have breached transfer rules.
Benjani entered talks with Hull City over a transfer to the club in August 2009, but negotiations ended after he failed to agree personal terms. He was also linked with a return to former club Portsmouth as well as West Ham and Stoke City of the Premier League and League Two club Notts Country
Under new Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, Benjani started his first game of the 2009-10 season in a third round FA CUP tie away to Middlesbrough on 2 January 2010, during which he scored the only goal just before half-time in a 1–0 win.
On 8 June 2010, it was announced that Benjani’s contract had expired and that he would be leaving the club, along with Sylvinho, Karl Moore and Martin Petrov.
2010, Benjani moved to Sunderland on loan until the end of the season, after the Premier League confirmed that the paperwork had been completed before the transfer deadline. On 18 May 2010, Steve Bruce confirmed that Benjani would not be offered a permanent deal.
Afteter a month of being a free agent and considering his options, it was revealed that Benjani was training with Premier League team Blackburn Rovers in the hopes of earning a deal with the club. On 27 August, he signed a one-year deal with Blackburn, with an option of a further year at Ewood Park. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Fulham at Ewood Park on 18 September, replacing Nikola Kalinic the 65th minute of the game. He made his first start for Blackburn against Aston Villa in the third round of the League Cup, at Villa Park on 22 September. He scored the first goal, a glancing header, in Blackburn’s home game to Chelsea, on 30 October in the 21st minute, in a 2–1 defeat playing 46 minutes and being substituted by fellow striker Jason Roberts. He made his 10th appearance for the club as a substitute against West Ham in a 1–1 draw on 18 December. Also against West Ham he miss kicked a clear shooting opportunity which fell to captain and New Zealand skipper Ryan Nelsen who also sliced it but in the end he scored with the ball deflecting in off his thigh. On 5 January 2011, he scored two goals against Liverpool in a 3–1 win at Ewood Park.
On 13 August 2011 (his 33rd birthday), it was announced that Benjani had re-signed for Portsmouth. He was unveiled to the crowd at Fratton Park before the Championship clash against Brighton and Hove Albion after signing a one-year deal. His first match was against Reading on 16 August 2011 as a 75th-minute substitute. He scored his first goal in his second spell for Portsmouth in a 3–2 defeat at home to Peterborough United on 27 September 2011. Benjani, however, played less under manager Michael Appleton and could not produce his form like he did in his previous spell at Portsmouth. After a poor season, Benjani was not offered a new contract and was subsequently released.
Although 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 crucial goals. 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 playing for Bidvest Wits.
Through out his career he played along some of the best footballers, the list includes Nwanku Kanu, Robinho, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Sol Campbell, Djibril Cisse and Kalilou Fadiga.
Currently Benjani is assisting Shaun North in coaching sessions on a twice-weekly basis to meet Uefa a license criteria whilst eyeing a coaching career, either in England or in his native Zimbabwe.
