From Bulawayo to Manchester, the story of Benjani Mwaruwari

Nicknamed “The Undertaker”, Benjani Mwaruwari is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a Striker.

Having started his career with Jomo Cosmos, Benjani moved to Europe in 2001 to join Swiss side Grasshopper Club Zurich, before moving to Auxerre one year later.

Many would say this is where Benjani’s football journey began. Benjani had a good run at the start, capitalizing from Djibril Cisse’s absence and becoming a top goal scorer in the French Ligue 1.

While at Auxerre, Benjani went on to score 19 goals in 72 apps before joining English Premier League side Portsmouth after Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.

At Portsmouth, Benjani failed to score in his first fourteen games for the club, but he immediately became a crowd favourite because of his high workrate and assists for other players. On the 29th of April in 2006, Benjani finally hit the net in a 2-1 victory against Wigan Athletic. In September 2007, Benjani broke the Premier League record for the most goals scored in a premier league match after scoring a hat-trick against Reading, he went on to become the Premier League’s top goal scorer.

Benjani finished his career at Portsmouth with 19 goals in 70 apps.

On the 31st of January in 2008, Manchester City placed a bid of 7,6 million for to buy Benjani from Portsmouth. On 5 February, Benjani officially joined Manchester City on a two and a half year deal. Benjani went on to score on his debut in a victory against city rivals Manchester United. Benjani scored his first goal at the Etihad against his former club Portsmouth in which he refused to celebrate out. of respect for his former club.

Though his time in Manchester was marred with a lengthy thigh injury, Benjani only managed to play 23 Apps and scoring 4 goals for the blues.

From Manchester City, Benjani went on to play for Sunderland on Loan (2010), Blackburn Rovers (2011), he returned to Portsmouth but he did not play much, only appearing in 18 Apps and scoring just one goal on his second spell.

In his later years he went on for Chippa United and Bidvest Wits in South Africa. On International level, Benjani played 42 matches for Zimbabwe, scorong 10 goals. At one stage he was the team’s captain and featured in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

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