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Benjamin 'Benjani' Mwaruwari (born 13 August 1978 in Harare, Zimbabwe), is a footballer currently playing for Portsmouth F.C. in the Premier League as a striker. 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. In Zimbabwe they call him the undertaker for his ability to 'bury' teams. Benjani would score frequently in his playing days in Zimbabwe and ultimately put more goals past teams, hence he was 'burying' them.

Benjani 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 Nwankwo Kanu, 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 Footballer of the Year in South Africa along with Kanu despite only having joined the South African Premiership in the second half of the season.

He later moved to Grasshoppers Zürich of Switzerland on loan (2001-2002), after which he was on the verge of being sent back to Africa. Then in 2002, Guy Roux handed him a trial at AJ 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. On 5 January 2006 English Premiership club Portsmouth signed him from Auxerre for a club record fee of £4.1 million after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger recommended the player to Harry Redknapp.^[1]

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 inquiry also has identified concerns regarding the role of (agent) Teni Yerima and (third party) Ralph N’Komo”^[2].

After failing to score in his first fourteen games for the club, Benjani finally got his first goal for Portsmouth against Wigan on 29 April 2006 in a 2-1 victory.^[3] Benjani has been criticised 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 he then started the next season with goals in the opening two games, at Derby County and at home to champions Manchester United. On September 29th, Benjani scored his first hat-trick for Portsmouth in an incredible 7-4 victory over Reading, which broke the record for both the number of goals scored in a Premiership match, and a league match shown on Match of the Day. After Portsmouth's visit to Wigan on October 20, Benjani became the Premier League's top scorer.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp banned Benjani from taking any further penalties after Mwaruwari missed a spot-kick in second-half injury time in a home game against West Ham United.^[4] He then made amends for his miss scoring in the 4-1 victory over Newcastle to bring his total to 8 this season.

He is the current Zimbabwe national team captain, having taken the armband from the legendary Peter Ndlovu after the 2006 African Cup of Nations.

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 2006 African Cup of Nations, 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. After Zimbabwe's failure to qualify for the 2008 African Cup of Nations he is expected to spearhead the campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa.

• BBC profile
• Benjamin Mwaruwari career stats at Soccerbase