Former Aj Auxerre striker and Zimbabwe national soccer team captain Benjani Mwaruwari says he is not losing sleep over the appointment of a new coach – Mark Hughes – at his English Premiership club Manchester City.
from our correspondent in Harare
Mwaruwari – who lead his charges to a 2 nil win over Namibia on Sunday he is not perturbed by the shakeup which saw former coach Sven Erickson being shown the door last week.
Erickson signed the Warriors skipper in a surprise move from fellow Premiership outfit Portsmouth during the January transfer window, scoring against Manchester United on his debut as the Blues shocked the Red Devils 2-1 at Old Trafford, in February.
Said the dreadlocked hitman “I have been following the developments there. If a new boss comes, you have to learn that boss’ character and try to adjust and try to get along. As for me, I have worked under different coaches and managers, so the trick is to go for work, work as hard as possible and then come back home and look towards a new day.”
Benjani started his career at the Division One side Lulu Rovers in Chegutu, before moving to the University of Zimbabwe team, also in Zimbabwe’s First Division.
He then played for Air Zimbabwe Jets in the Premier League in 1999, before moving to join South African club Jomo Cosmos in 1999.
He then joined Grasshoppers Zürich of Switzerland on loan in 2001, before Guy Roux took him to AJ Auxerre of France. On January 5, 2006, he signed for English Premiership club Portsmouth for a record £4.1 million, before moving to Manchester City this year, where he has struggled for goals.
Mwaruwari believes the Warriors are in with a good chance to qualify for the last qualifying draw, for the World Cup and Nations Cup, to be conducted at the end of 2009.
“Group 2 is not an easy group as what people might think, but we are in a good position to qualify. We need to be taking maximum points from now on, so that we control whatever happens with the other teams,” Mwaruwari said.
Benjani has not scored for Zimbabwe since he assumed the captain’s armband from former skipper Peter Ndlovu, in October 2006.
The Warriors leave for Nairobi on Wednesday for the crunch tie against the Harambee, still have a lot of work to do if they are hoping to do well in the qualifiers.
And after choosing to stick with the same team that drew 0-0 with Guinea in Conakry the coaches are bound to ring the changes for the match against Kenya next week Stars on Sunday.
