Mkhokheli "Kheli" Dube (born 18 June 1983 in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

) is a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Career

Early career and college

Dube played in the youth system of his hometown team, Dunlop and played professionally for two years in the

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League is the top professional division of the Zimbabwe Football Association. It was founded in 1980, as a successor to the 1962 formed ''Rhodesia National Football League.'' It is currently sponsored by Delta Beverages ...

for Highlanders before coming to the United States. He played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for

Lindsey Wilson College Lindsey Wilson College is a private, United Methodist-related college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 as a training school, the college now offers in-person and online degree programs, offered at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and ...

during his freshman and sophomore seasons, scoring 36 goals and tallying 13 assists in 50 games. After his sophomore season, he transferred to

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

for his junior and senior seasons, where he scored 16 goals and had 12 assists in 26 games. He missed the first five weeks of his senior season with an injury, but still scored 11 goals. He is a two-time All-

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...

performer and was a member of the 2006

All-Tournament Team. He was also the 2007

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...

Player of the Year and a

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-South Atlantic performer.He was Big South Conference player of the week a record four times in his senior season. During his college years Dube also played with both

Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, playing in Saginaw, and began playing in 1996. In ...

and Delaware Dynasty of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, helping the Bucks reach the PDL championship game both in 2006 (when they also won the title) and 2007.

Professional

Dube was drafted 8th in the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft by

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. He made his debut for the Revs on 29 March 2008 as an 81st-minute substitute for

Kenny Mansally Abdoulie Kenny Mansally (born 27 January 1989) is a Gambian professional footballer. He is featured on the Gambian national team in the official 2010 FIFA World Cup video game. Professional career New England Revolution Mansally began his car ...

in their opening day victory over

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. While Dube was not initially expected to play a major role with the Revolution, a long-term injury to

Taylor Twellman Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Twellman is best kn ...

gave him an opportunity to start a number of games. He scored his first MLS goal in his first start on 17 May 2008, and added several more goals in the following months, including the winning goal in the Revs'

SuperLiga Superliga (''super league'') may refer to: Sports Superliga can refer to different sports leagues: Association football *Albanian Superliga, the Albanian top-flight men's division * Argentine Superliga, the Argentine top-flight men's division *D ...

match against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

. Dube was runner-up to

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

defender

Sean Franklin Sean Michael Franklin (born March 21, 1985) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. Career Youth and amateur Franklin was a three-time letter-winner at Highland High School in Palmdale, California. He was named the Gold ...

for 2008 MLS Rookie of the Year. Scored his first career hat trick on 08/23/09 against Real Salt Lake and was voted for his first player of the week award the same week. At the end of the 2011 season, New England declined his 2012 contract option and Dube entered the

2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 5, 2011 (Stage 1) and December 12, 2011 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs participated. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the traditional Wai ...

. He was selected by Chicago Fire in stage two of the draft on 12 December 2011. Dube signed with Chicago on 25 January 2012. After spending a six-month term without making an appearance, on 7 August 2012, he joined South African

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

side

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

on a three-year deal. In 2013 he joined Chicken Fc in Zimbabwe and won the Net One Charity Cup and after 2 and half years later, he moved to join Bulawayo City in 2016 where he captained the ambitious side under Philani 'Beffy" Ncube. Halfway through the 2017 season he made a move to FC Platinum where he won the Championship in 3 successive seasons 2017,2018 and 2019, also winning the Castle Challenge Cup twice in 2018 and 19. Recently returned to his boyhood club at Highlanders Fc for the 2020 season .

International

Dube has represented his country with the under 20 and under 23 national teams, but has yet to make his debut for the full

Zimbabwe national football team The Zimbabwe national football team (nicknamed ''The Warriors'') represents Zimbabwe in men's international football and is controlled by the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA), formerly known as the Football Association of Rhodesia. The tea ...

Personal

Dube received his U.S. green card in 2010.

Honors

Highlanders FC *PSL league: 2000, 2001, 2002 Lindsey Wilson *NAIA National Championship: 2005 Michigan Bucks *

: 2006 New England Revolution *

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an annual association football competition in North America between four clubs from the Major League Soccer (United States and Canada) and four clubs from the Primera División (Mexico), the top professional league in each count ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Chicken INN *NetOne Charity Shield: 2013 FC Platinum *Zimbabwean PSL Championship: 2017, 2018, 2019 *Castle Challenge Cup: 2017, 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dube, Kheli 1983 births Living people Zimbabwean men's footballers Zimbabwean expatriate men's footballers Coastal Carolina Chanticleers men's soccer players Flint City Bucks players Delaware Dynasty players New England Revolution players Chicago Fire FC players AmaZulu F.C. players Major League Soccer players USL League Two players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa New England Revolution draft picks Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders men's soccer players Footballers from Bulawayo Highlanders F.C. players Men's association football forwards