Ovidy Karuru

Ovidy Obvious Karuru (born January 23, 1989) is a Zimbabwean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is currently playing for South African Premier Division side Black Leopards and the Zimbabwe national team.[2]

Ovidy Karuru

Personal information
Full name	Ovidy Obvious Karuru[1]
Date of birth	23 January 1989
Place of birth	Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Black Leopards
Youth career
2001–2006	Masvingo United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	Masvingo United	50	(15)
2009	Gunners	19	(8)
2009–2012	Boulogne	73	(10)
2012–2014	OH Leuven	32	(1)
2014–2016	Kaizer Chiefs	5	(0)
2017–2019	AmaZulu	59	(8)
2020	Stellenbosch	7	(1)
2020–	Black Leopards	0	(0)
National team^‡
2007–2009	Zimbabwe U20	18	(4)
2007–	Zimbabwe	38	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:30, 19 June 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:38, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Karuru began his career with Masvingo United F.C. and joined Newcastle United F.C. for a trial in March 2008.[3] After two years in the senior side for Masvingo United he joined Gunners Football Club Harare in January 2009.[4]

After only a half-year with Harare, he was sold to Ligue 1 team US Boulogne in the summer of 2009.[5] With Boulogne he relegated twice in three seasons, ending up in the Championnat National in 2012, when he moved to OH Leuven in the Belgian Pro League. He made his league debut for the club on 15 September 2012 in a 1–0 home loss against Zulte Waregem replacing Evariste Ngolok in the 72nd minute.[6] He scored his first league goal for the club on 20 October 2012 in a 4–1 home victory over Club Brugge. After being brought on in the 46th minute for Derick Ogbu, Karuru scored the fourth and final goal of the match for his side in the 81st minute. The assist came from Ebrahima Sawaneh.[7] He joined Chiefs on 22 July 2014 as a free agent after opting not to renew his contract with OH Leuven, who were relegated from the Jupiler League at the end of the 2013–14 season.[8]

Karuru joined Kaizer Chiefs and played in a pre-season friendly against Chippa United in which Chiefs won 4–2 in Port Elizabeth. Karuru received his work permit from the South African Department of Home Affairs on 22 August 2014 after a month-long delay.[9] He was released by Kaizer Chiefs on 31 May 2016.[10]

In February 2017, Karuru was picked up by South African club AmaZulu F.C. on a one-and-a-half year deal.[11] His league debut for the club came on 15 February 2017 in a 2–1 home loss to Mthatha Bucks F.C.. He was subbed on for Zola Jingxi in the 61st minute.[12] His first league goal for the club came on 19 April 2017 in a 3–1 away win over Royal Eagles F.C.. His goal, scored in the 69th minute, made the score 2–1 in favour of AmaZulu.[13]

International career

Karuru is a former member of the Zimbabwe national under-20 football team and was with them as part of the 2009 African Nations Championship,[14] he was also given captaincy of the team.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of 17 July 2019.[2]

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup[lower-alpha 1]		League Cup[lower-alpha 2]		Continental		Other[lower-alpha 3]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
AmaZulu	2016–17	National First Division	13	2	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	14	2
	2017–18	South African Premier Division	25	3	1	1	0	0	—		0	0	26	4
	2018–19		21	3	1	0	1	0	—		0	0	23	3
	Total		59	8	3	1	1	0	—		0	0	63	9
Career total			59	8	3	1	1	0	—		0	0	63	9

1. Includes the Nedbank Cup.
2. Includes the Telkom Knockout.
3. Includes the MTN 8.

International

As of 30 June 2017.[4]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Zimbabwe
	2007	2	0
	2008	5	0
	2009	1	0
	2010	1	0
	2011	6	1
	2012	2	0
	2013	2	0
	2014	1	0
	2015	0	0
	2016	0	0
	2017	7	6
	2018	5	0
	2019	6	0
Total		38	7

International goals

Scores and results list Zimbabwe's goal tally first.[4]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	4 September 2011	National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe	Liberia	2–0	3–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.	26 June 2017	Moruleng Stadium, Moruleng, South Africa	Mozambique	1–0	4–0	2017 COSAFA Cup
3.				2–0
4.	30 June 2017	Moruleng Stadium, Moruleng, South Africa	Seychelles	1–0	6–0	2017 COSAFA Cup
5.				2–0
6.				4–0
7.	2 July 2017	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Phokeng, South Africa	Swaziland	1–0	2–1	2017 COSAFA Cup

Honours

Club

Masvingo United

• Zimbabwean Independence Trophy (2): 2006, 2007

Kaizer Chiefs

• South African Premier Division (1): 2014–15
• MTN 8 (1): 2015

References

1. Ovidy Karuru – Fussballdaten – Die Fußball-Datenbank
2. Ovidy Karuru at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
3. Karuru fails at Newcastle united Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
4. Ovidy Karuru at National-Football-Teams.com
5. "Ligue 1 - Transferts - Le Zimbabwéen Ovidy Karuru signe à Boulogne". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
6. "Leuven vs. Zulte-Waregem – 15 September 2012 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
7. "Leuven vs. Club Brugge – 20 October 2012 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
8. "Karuru signs for Chiefs - Ovidy Karuru to be unveiled as Kaizer Chiefs player". soccerladuma.co.za.
9. "Karuru gets work permit - Kaizer Chiefs' Ovidy Karuru had received his work permit". soccerladuma.co.za.
10. http://www.kaizerchiefs.com/kc_articles.asp?id=3552594
11. "Ex-Chiefs Midfielder Signs for AmaZulu - Ovidy Karuru has joined AmaZulu". soccerladuma.co.za.
12. "AmaZulu vs. Mthatha Bucks – 15 February 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
13. "Royal Eagles vs. AmaZulu – 19 April 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
14. Sharuko, Robson (10 March 2009). "Zimbabwe: Karuru in Chan Team". The Herald (Harare). Retrieved 18 May 2018.
15. Sharuko, Robson (16 January 2008). "Zimbabwe: Karuru's Big Break". The Herald (Harare). Retrieved 18 May 2018.

External links