Know Your Warriors: Washington Arubi still has gas in his tank

Sports Reporter

WASHINGTON Arubi’s return to the national team has silenced doubters, with his crucial saves securing Zimbabwe’s 1-0 victory over Namibia on Thursday.

There were so many questions surrounding Arubi’s return to the national team set-up but if his performance against Namibia is anything to go by, then there is no denying coach Michael Nees made the right call by bringing him back to the national team.
Arubi made crucial saves to ensure Zimbabwe emerged as 1-0 winners over Namibia.

At 38, Arubi is the most senior player in Nees’ squad. His inclusion has provided stability and leadership to the team.
His return has been key to Zimbabwe keeping three clean sheets in the 2025 Afcon Qualifiers.

With his experience which has seen him surviving in the South African topflight league for more than 10 years, Arubi has proven to be the answer to the Warriors goalkeeping crisis which was witnessed in June when Zimbabwe played in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Lesotho and South Africa.

Arubi started his career at Lancashire Steel for whom he played 29 matches, before having spells with Highlanders, Bantu Rovers and Dynamos. In 2012, Arubi joined South African Premier Division team University of Pretoria. The goalkeeper has played both topflight and second-tier football in South Africa for the past 10 years, since arriving at the University of Pretoria in 2012 from Harare giants, Dynamos.

He made 112 appearances for University of Pretoria United, spread across five seasons and then went on to play for Stellenbosch in the First National Division in 2017. He was back in the top flight league in 2018 after signing for SuperSport United.

He had a disappointing stint at the Tshwane side and left without playing a game, two years later. Arubi resuscitated his career at Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila where he produced some of his best performances and led the team to their maiden Nedbank Cup title.

He was also named the 2020-21 Nedbank Cup Player of the tournament. They survived relegation in their first season. But the following season it was not to be. The team, which then changed to Marumo Gallants just needed to play a draw against Swallows FC at the Dobsonville Stadium in order to avoid relegation, but instead they lost 2-0 to the Dube Birds.

The defeat meant that they finished last in the PSL and were automatically relegated to the National First Division. It was especially agonising that three days earlier, they had also crashed out of the CAF Confederation Cup.

Marumo Gallants had a magical run in their maiden campaign in Africa after reaching the semi-finals of the prestigious football competition. Gallants had booked a place in the group stages of the Caf Confederations Cup for the first time ever, after beating Libyan giants Ahli Tripoli 3-1 on aggregate.

Arubi played a very important role in that campaign, keeping goals with distinction in 13 of the 14 games that the team played culminating in the 4-1 defeat to Yanga in the semi-finals of the Confederation Cup. They received US$750 000 for reaching the last four of the Confederation Cup.