| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ovidy Obvious Karuru[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1989-01-23)23 January 1989 (age 36) | ||
| Place of birth | Masvingo, Zimbabwe | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| 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) |
| 2020–2021 | Black Leopards | 23 | (5) |
| 2022 | Al-Shoulla | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007–2009 | Zimbabwe U20 | 18 | (4) |
| 2007– | Zimbabwe | 50 | (7) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:30, 19 June 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14:38, 13 July 2021 (UTC) | |||
Ovidy Obvious Karuru (born January 23, 1989) is a Zimbabwean professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder. He is currently playing for theZimbabwe national team.[2]
Karuru began his career withMasvingo United F.C. and joinedNewcastle 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 teamUS Boulogne in the summer of 2009.[5] With Boulogne he relegated twice in three seasons, ending up in theChampionnat National in 2012, when he moved toOH Leuven in the Belgian Pro League. He made his league debut for the club on 15 September 2012 in a 1–0 home loss againstZulte Waregem replacingEvariste 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 overClub Brugge. After being brought on in the 46th minute forDerick Ogbu, Karuru scored the fourth and final goal of the match for his side in the 81st minute. The assist came fromEbrahima 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 theJupiler League at the end of the 2013–14 season.[8]
Karuru joinedKaizer Chiefs and played in a pre-season friendly againstChippa United in which Chiefs won 4–2 inPort Elizabeth. Karuru received his work permit from the South AfricanDepartment 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 clubAmaZulu 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 toMthatha 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 overRoyal Eagles F.C. His goal, scored in the 69th minute, made the score 2–1 in favour of AmaZulu.[13]
On 29 January 2022, Karuru joined Saudi Arabian clubAl-Shoulla.[14]
Karuru is a former member of the Zimbabwe national under-20 football team and was with them as part of the2009 African Nations Championship,[15] he was also givencaptaincy of the team.[16]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Continental | Other[c] | 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 | |||
| 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 | |
| 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 |
Masvingo United
Kaizer Chiefs
