“I was still a high school student when I graduated to the Triangle first team, a team from my home area,” said the agile goalkeeper. “That heralded a fruitful career that saw me at one stage play alongside the likes of Lloyd Hlahla, Misheck Makota, George Sibiya and Joe Kwangware to make a talented Shabanie Mine team when I moved to the topflight league side.”
Benjamin joined Shabanie as cover for their then first-choice goalkeeper, Andrew Chisunga, having been spotted by the asbestos miners’ head coach then, Moses Chunga – who identified the young player during a friendly match between hosts Triangle and Shabanie Mine.
“I arrived at Shabanie in 2004, finding it tough there due to some stiff competition, but a few months later, I became their first choice goalkeeper and later on scooped my first Player for the Season award. I repeated the feat in the following season,” said Benjamin.
He adjusted so quickly because of some familiar faces at his new club. “I had re-united with my school-mates in Makota, Philip Sithole and Hlahla. I also got inspiration from playing with other talented players like Shadreck Malunga, Method Mwanjali, Patrick Mandizha, Albert Mbano, Steven Matsaire, Max Ruza, Ernest Gava, Rowan Nenzou, Clarkson Dzimbiri, Arnold Jani and Elvis Muuya. They all made things a bit easier for me,” said Benjamin.
He expressed gratitude to Chunga, describing the former national team captain as an expert in coaching. “Bambo is one of the best coaches in Zimbabwe. He has a basic touch of coaching and has an eye for raw talent. His player management principles are rare and every player that went through his hands would agree with me.”
His outstanding talent saw the tall goalkeeper stay for only two seasons at the Midlands side, leaving for the then defending PSL champions, Highlanders in 2007. He was one of the players brought to the Bulawayo giants by coach Methembe Ndlovu, who wanted to fortify his backline for the African Champions League safari.
“After Highlanders had won the championship in 2006, Ndlovu called me to join them and they signed me alongside Washington Arubi. I felt sad at leaving Shabanie, where I had built many friendships, but life had to go on,” he said.
“It is always every player’s dream to play for a big club like Highlanders and I thought I had achieved that, but it later proved to be the end of my career. When I joined them, problems began and there was a lot misunderstanding between me and the executive.
“I had hoped to help them reach the Champions League’s group stages for the first time, but that was not to be, as the differences forced me to quit the game and move to South Africa.”
The former Under-20 and Under-23 goal minder now lives in Cape Town, where he is employed as a refrigeration technician. “I made the best move of doing professional courses, as it is very difficult to remain in the fast lane after quitting the game. That is why you see many of our players end up dying as paupers,” he said.
Post published in: Football