Benjani Mwaruwari

He is a football player from Zimbabwe. He plays as a centre forward.

Benjamin 'Benjani' Mwaruwari (born 13 August 1978 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), is a footballer. He is a striker currently playing for Portsmouth F.C. in the English Premier League. 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.
Benjani has also 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 his goal at the FNB Stadium. In 2001 he was voted the Footballer of the Year in South Africa along with Siyabonga Nomvethe despite the former having joined the South African Premiership in the second half of the season.
He later moved to Grasshoppers Zürich of Switzerland (2001-2002) and AJ Auxerre of France (2002-2005). He was on the verge of being sent back to Africa, when Guy Roux handed him a trial. Benjani had a good run at the start, capitalising from Djibril Cissé's absence, he became top goalscorer in Ligue 1. Guy Roux never played the two together, and eventually he found himself surplus to requirements under Santin, 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 starting many games since joining the side, playing an important part in Portsmouth's remarkable run despite not scoring, Benjani finally got his first goal for Portsmouth, scoring the equalizer against Wigan on the 29th of April which saw the south-coast side beat relegation with a 2-1 victory. Benjani has been criticized by some due to a lack of goals, while others disagree, pointing to his work ethic and intelligent link-up play. In any case, he is beginning to show an eye for goal, having scored six goals in the 2006-07 season.
His 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”.
He is the current Zimbabwe national team captain, having taken the armband from the legendary Peter Ndlovu after the Africa Nations Cup in Cairo, Egypt in 2006.
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 African Cup of Nations (2006 Edition), 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. He is expected to spearhead Zimbabwe's campaign for the African Cup of Nations in Ghana, 2008 as well as the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Portsmouth
13 August 1978
Source: Wikipedia