Benjani Mwaruwari

Mpenjani "Benjani" Mwaruwari (born 13 August 1978) is a former Zimbabwean professional footballer who played as a striker.

From 1999 to 2010, Benjani played a total of 31 times for the Zimbabwe national team and played at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations.

After his retirement, he became the national team's assistant coach.

Benjani began his career at Lulu Rovers, Highlanders FC Juniors, Zimba Africa Rivers, 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 commemorate the inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as the president of South Africa..

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

In 2001, he was voted PSL Player of the Season and PSL Players' Player of the Season in South Africa.

Benjani moved to Swiss club Grasshopper Club Zürich on loan in 2001.

In 2002, Guy Roux took him to 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.

He also played as a substitute in the final as they won the tournament two years earlier in 2003.

While at Auxerre, Benjani scored the opening goal in the 2005 Coupe de France final as they defeated Paris St Germain.

He signed with Premier League club Portsmouth in 2006, then went on to play in England's top flight for Manchester City, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers before returning to Portsmouth in 2011.

The following year, he returned to South Africa with Chippa United and then the Bidvest Wits.

On 5 January 2006, English Premier League club Portsmouth signed him from Auxerre for £4.1 million after Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.

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 enquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of (agent) Teni Yerima and (third party) Ralph N'Komo."

Benjani failed to score in his first fourteen games for the club, but became a crowd favourite because of his high workrate and assists for other players.

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.

On 29 September 2007, Benjani scored three goals for Portsmouth in a 7–4 win over Reading, which broke the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League match.

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 he missed a spot-kick in second-half injury time in a home game against West Ham United.

He then made amends for his miss scoring in the 4–1 victory over Newcastle United to bring his total to eight for the season.

He then scored his ninth of the season, albeit 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 season cemented Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson's interest in the striker, and on 31 January 2008 he had a bid of around £7.6 million accepted for the transfer of the player.

However, it was revealed that Benjani had missed two successive planes to Manchester, meaning he did not arrive at the club's training ground until 11:10 pm, leaving insufficient time to complete a move before the midnight deadline.

Portsmouth had already confirmed the signing of Benjani's replacement, Jermain Defoe from Tottenham Hotspur.

A 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.

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 wage was reported at £50,000 a week 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 City of Manchester 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 04.

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.