Benjani Mwaruwari
| Benjani Mwaruwari | |
|---|---|
 Benjani Mwaruwari | |
| Born | Benjani Mwaruwari August 13, 1978 Bulawayo |
| Nationality | Zimbabwe |
| Education | Mhali Primary School |
| Occupation |
|
| Notable work | Played for and Captained the Zimbabwe National Soccer Team |
| Predecessor | Peter Ndlovu |
| Spouse(s) | Thembi |
| Children | Colines, Benjani Junior, Belle and Tiyezhe |
| Parent(s) | Amos Mwaruwari |
Benjani "Undertaker" Mwaruwari is a Zimbabwean born former footballer. He has played for various clubs in Europe, 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.
Background
Born: 13 August 1978, to Malawian parents. His father Amos Mwaruwari passed away in 2015. [1]
Marriage: Thembi and the couple has four children.
Service/Career
Football
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.[1] 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.[2] 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 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.[3] 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. 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.[4]
Benjani was also part of the Clemence Westerhof-coached Zimbabwe U23 team.
Coaching
Coaching Qualifications
Benjani Mwaruwari completed his UEFA A coaching licence in 2021. He was in the same class with ex-professional footballers Christopher Samba and Mark Hughes. [5]
Return to Pompey as Academy Coach
Mwaruwari coached Portsmouth's under-16s whilst he was doing the UEFA badges. Benjani assisted Shaun North in coaching sessions on a twice-weekly basis to meet Uefa A licence criteria. He was at Portsmouth FC for more than six weeks, enabling him to fulfil requirements of 40 hours of practical work. [6]
Zimbabwe Senior National Team
Mwaruwari was appointed assistant coach of the Zimbabwe senior national team on 24 August 2021 to work under Croatian head coach, Zdravko Logarusic [7].
He became the third assistant, along with Tonderai Ndiraya and Lloyd Chitembwe. His role was, however, short-lived as Logarusic was fired a few months later and the technical team disbanded.
Warriors
In December 2021, Mwaruwari was drafted into the Warriors’ technical team as one of the assistant coaches to interim Norman Mapeza [8].
He, however, did not travel to Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in January 2022 after failing to take part in the Warriors' preparations and instead, worked as a pundit at SuperSport during the tournament.
Ngezi
In March 2022, Mwaruwari was appointed Ngezi Platinum Stars head coach on a three-year deal [9].
Mwaruwari replaced the highly-rated coach Rodwell Dhlakama despite having no previous club managerial experience even in the Northern Region Division One.
In May 2022, Ngezi Platinum Stars announced the appointment of Yvonne Mapika Manwa as the club’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Manwa’s appointment comes a month after Madamburo (Ngezi) parted ways with Nyasha Kadenge who was previously in the CEO position. According to reports, Kadenge who had been CEO for close to six years was fired after a disciplinary hearing. However, reasons for the hearing together with its outcome remained undisclosed.
Ngezi Platinum also appointed Benjani Mwaruwari as their new head coach in March, along with Bongani Mafu as his assistant coach. This was after the departure of Rodwell Dhlakama who was first placed on suspension in February over allegations of corruption before resigning. Also, Ngezi also took on ex-Warriors captain Tinashe “Father” Nengomasha as the club’s manager. [10]
He could not sit on the bench as he does not hold the required CAF A coaching badge but Ngezi Platinum Stars successfully applied for a waiver from the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) [11].
He was fired on 25 July 2022 after presiding over 13 matches. He won three games, drew six times and lost four games [12]..
The three wins came against relegation-fighting teams - ZPC Kariba Football Club, Tenax SC and Bulawayo City.
The club confirmed that Mwaruwari’s assistant Bongani Mafu would also be leaving the club.
Assistant coach Takesure Chiragwi was named as interim coach assisted by Kifton Kadurira.
Events
Accolades
- Premier Soccer League Player of the year (South Africa 2001)
- 2000 COSAFA Cup Winner
Trivia
On 25 September 2002, Benjani became the first Zimbabwean to score a goal in the UEFA Champions League. [13]
Clubs Played for
- AJ Auxerre FC
- Manchester City FC
- Portsmouth FC
- Jomo Cosmos FC
- Highlanders Football Club
- Blackburn Rovers FC
- Sunderland FC
- Bidvest Wits
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Benjani Mwaruwari, family and football, Bulawayo 24News, Published: April 6, 2013, Retrieved: February 13, 2015
- ↑ The Truth About: Benjani Mwaruwari, New Zimbabwe, Published: July 29, 2009, Retrieved: February 13, 2015
- ↑ BENJANI MWARUWARI, ZimLegends, Published: No Date Given, Retrieved: February 13, 2015
- ↑ Michael Madyira Benjani revisits England days, The Standard, Published: August 31, 2014, Retrieved: February 13, 2015
- ↑ Eddie Chikamhi, Benjani gets his UEFA A badge, The Herald, Published: July 22, 2021, Retrieved: August 12, 2021
- ↑ Neil Allen, [1], The News, Published: 22 September, 2020, Accessed: 26 September, 2020
- ↑ Eddie Chikamhi, Mwaruwari appointed Warriors assistant coach, The Herald, Published: 25 August 2021, Retrieved 27 July 2022
- ↑ Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Benjani drafted into Warriors technical team, Chronicle, Published: 23 December 2021, Retrieved 27 July 2022
- ↑ Henry Mhara, Mwaruwari now Ngezi Platinum coach, NewsDay, Published: 29 March 2022, Retrieved 27 July 2022
- ↑ Ngezi Platinum Stars replace Nyasha Kadenge, appoint new CEO, Nehanda Radio, Published: 18 May 2022, Retrieved: 9 October 2023
- ↑ Lawrence Mangenje, For Ngezi Platinum, Benjani was a gamble which didn’t pay off, Soccer24, Published: 26 July 2022, Retrieved 27 July 2022
- ↑ Tadious Manyepo, Ngezi experiment backfires, The Herald, Published: 26 March 2022, Retrieved 27 July 2022
- ↑ Enock Muchinjo Which Zimbos have played in the Uefa Champions League?, Daily News, Published: May 7, 2014, Retrieved: February 16, 2015
