Charles Gbeke

Charles Gbeke (born March 15, 1978) is a Canadian retired international soccer player, and head coach.

Charles Gbeke
Gbeke in 2010
Personal information
Full name Charles Patrick Gbeke
Date of birth (1978-03-15) March 15, 1978
Place of birth Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1998 Vancouver 86ers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Troyes B
2000 Comercial
2001 S. E. Matsubara
2001 Vancouver Whitecaps 3 (0)
2002 Seattle Sounders 1 (0)
2003–2004 Ottawa Wizards 18 (10)
2004 → Toronto Lynx (loan) 16 (6)
2004 → Hamilton Thunder (loan) 5 (2)
2005 Herfølge 8 (0)
2005 Toronto Lynx 6 (2)
2005 Montreal Impact 9 (2)
2006 Rochester Raging Rhinos 22 (2)
2007–2008 Montreal Impact 40 (11)
2008 → Trois-Rivieres Attak (loan) 2 (1)
2008–2009 Vancouver Whitecaps 42 (15)
2010 Guangzhou Evergrande 21 (9)
National team‡
2008–2009 Canada 3 (0)
Teams managed
2016 Cascavel
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of April 30, 2011
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of January 2, 2010

Gbeke began his career with brief stints with Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps, where he was deployed as a defender but failed to establish himself as a starter. It was in the Canadian Professional Soccer League during his stint with the Ottawa Wizards where he made the transition to a striker. His achievements at Ottawa included the Eastern Conference title, and an undefeated season.

He returned to the USL A-League on loan to the Toronto Lynx, where he proved to be a consistent striker capable of performing in the First Division. Following a brief stint in Europe, he was acquired by the Montreal Impact in a trade deadline move after tallying two goals in six games. Gbeke led the defending champions in scoring in the postseason, tallying all three goals, but the team was knocked out 4–3 on aggregate by the eventual champion Seattle Sounders. The following year he was transferred to league giants the Rochester Rhinos.

Gbeke found success again since his return to Montreal as he went on to record 10 goals that claimed him the Golden Boot award for the first time in his career. After a slow start with Montreal he was traded back to Vancouver only to win his first USL First Division Championship, where he scored both goals in the Whitecaps' 2–1 victory over Puerto Rico Islanders. In 2009 went on to claim the Golden Boot award for the second time in three years with 12 goals. In February 2010 he was ranked 18th in the USL First Division Top 25 of the Decade, a list of the best and most influential players of the previous decade.[1]

In 2010, he went overseas to the China League One and secured Guangzhou Evergrande a promotion to the Chinese Super League and subsequently retired from competitive soccer at the conclusion of the season.

Club career

Early years

Although Gbeke was born in Ivory Coast, he grew up in Montreal and is a citizen of Canada. From 1999 to 2001, Gbeke played in France for the Troyes AC reserves and in Brazil with clubs Comercial and S. E. Matsubara. During the 2001 season he played with Vancouver Whitecaps and with the Seattle Sounders.[2][3] On May 2, 2003, he signed a contract with Ottawa Wizards of the CPSL.[4] During the 2003 CPSL season he helped the team go undefeated allowing the club to clinch its third consecutive division title. Unfortunately the Wizards ran into problems with the CPSL administration which prevented the club in competing in the Open Canada Cup tournament and postseason. His personal achievement was finishing the season as the club's top goalscorer with 10 goals.[5]

In 2004, with Ottawa facing revocation from the league, Gbeke was loan to the Toronto Lynx.[6] He would make his debut for the club on June 13, 2004 against the Atlanta Silverbacks, the match marked the return of Gbeke to the A-League.[7] Coincidentally he would record his first goal for the Lynx against his former club the Vancouver Whitecaps.[8] Though his tenure with the Toronto club was rather short, nonetheless he proved to be an effective striker forming a solid partnership with Ali Gerba. He would conclude his season with the Lynx as their second highest goal scorer with six goals.

He finished off the season with the Hamilton Thunder, where he scored his first goal in his debut match against London City.[9][10] He helped Hamilton clinch a playoff spot by clinching the Western Conference title. In 2005, Gbeke had a short stint in Europe where he played in Denmark with Herfølge, but following the team's relegation to the second division he was released from his contract.[11] Following his release he secured a trial with Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, but he returned to the Lynx for a second stint. His return to Toronto was not as successful as his previous term with the club suffering from a mediocre performances he was transferred.

Montreal Impact and Rochester

On August 1, 2005, Gbeke was acquired by the Montreal Impact along with David Diplacido before the trade deadline.[12] With the Impact he scored the insurance goal and had an assist on the winner, in a 2–0 win against the Atlanta Silverbacks at home on August 7, in his first game with the Impact. During the playoffs, he scored all three goals in the semifinals against the Seattle Sounders. The following season Gbeke departed from Montreal in order to sign a new deal with the Rochester Rhinos for the 2006 season. Unfortunately he experienced a rather disappointing season with Rochester, where he only managed to score two goals in a total of 22 league matches. Though he did manage to lead the Rhinos to the USL First Division Championship finals, only to be defeated by his former club the Whitecaps.

Headshot of Charles Gbeke in 2008

In 2007 Gbeke resigned with the Impact, where he was the top scorer in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, with 10 goals tied with Seattle Sounders forward Sébastien Le Toux. He was named to the All-League second team[13] for the first time in his career, and was proclaimed Player of the Week for week 19 and was named five times to the USL D1 Team of the Week.[14] During the team's annual awards banquet he was awarded the Impact's Offensive Player of the Year award.[15] In 2008, he was loaned to the Impact's farm team the Trois-Rivières Attak of the Canadian Soccer League where he made his debut on June 27, 2008 in a 4–0 victory over TFC Academy.[16] He recorded his first goal for Attak the next day on June 28 against TFC Academy in a 3–0 victory.[17][18]

Back at Vancouver Whitecaps

On June 30, 2008, Gbeke was traded back to Vancouver in return for cash and Tony Donatelli going to Montreal. Gbeke scored both goals Vancouver's 2–1 win in the USL First Division final against Puerto Rico.[19] The victory gave the Whitecaps their second USL Championship and also marked Gbeke's first USL Championship. Gbeke won the 2008–2009 USL First Division Golden Boot award scoring 12 goals. He also managed to lead the Whitecaps back to the Championship finals for the second consecutive year. Their opponents would end up being the Montreal Impact, this marking the first time in USL history where the final match would consist of two Canadian clubs. Unfortunately for Gbeke and his entire team they were defeated by Impact losing the series 6–3 on goals for aggregate. He was released by the Whitecaps at the end of the 2009 season in order to pursue other footballing options.[20][21]

Move to China
Charles Gbeke celebrated his goal with Gabriel Melkam in a Guangdong derby match on May 29, 2010

In February 2010, Gbeke moved to China with his former teammate Lyle Martin and signed a contract with Guangzhou F.C., which was newly relegated to China League One in the fallout of a match fixing scandal.

Gbeke made his China League One debut for Guangzhou against Beijing BIT on April 3 and earned a penalty kick in 23rd minute, which helped China national team striker Gao Lin score his first goal for Guangzhou.[22] He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, in a 3–3 away draw against Pudong Zobon on April 10.[23] In season 2010, Gbeke scored 9 goals in 21 appearances as Guangzhou finished first place in the League One and won promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt.

International career

On February 1, 2008 Gbeke made his debut for Canada against Martinique in 1–0 victory. In total, he earned a total of 3 caps, all played in 2008, scoring no goals. He represented Canada in 2 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[24] He was also on the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster but did not play.

Managerial career

In 2015, he was appointed the head coach for Futebol Clube Cascavel in the Campeonato Paranaense, and was dismissed from his post in 2016.[25][26]

Personal life

Charles Gbeke is teacher of a soccer school (BK Football Academy) in Laranjeiras do Sul – Paraná – Brazil.

Honors

Club

Ottawa Wizards

Vancouver Whitecaps

Guangzhou Evergrande

Individual

References
  1. "USL-1 Top 25 of the Decade". USLsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  2. Whitecaps Sign Gbeke Archived February 25, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Charles Gbeke | SoccerStats.us". soccerstats.us. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  4. "Welcome to the OTTAWA Wizards". June 21, 2003. Archived from the original on June 21, 2003. Retrieved 2016-11-20.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "CPSL - Canadian Professional Soccer League". December 30, 2004. Archived from the original on December 30, 2004. Retrieved 2016-11-20.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. Nutt, Dave. "NEW LYNX STRIKER SEES FIRST GAME ACTION". Toronto Lynx media release. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  7. Glover, Robin. "A-League game of Sunday June 13th, 2004 between Toronto Lynx and Atlanta Silverback". Rocket Robin match report. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  8. Nutt, Dave. "TORONTO LYNX GAME REPORT". Toronto Lynx game report. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  9. "HAMILTON DEFEAT LONDON CITY 4–1 TO STRENGTHEN HOLD ON TOP SPOT". CSL match report. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  10. "CPSL - Canadian Professional Soccer League". February 11, 2005. Archived from the original on February 11, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. "Sporløs med Charles Gbeke". Tipsbladet.dk. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  12. Nutt, Dave. "DiPlacido and Gbeke join Impact!". Toronto Lynx media release. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  13. GERVAIS, GBEKE, JORDAN AND DI LORENZO NAMED TO USL ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS Archived October 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  14. FORWARD CHARLES GBEKE IS NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  15. CHARLES GBEKE: OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Archived October 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  16. Glover, Robin (June 27, 2008). "June 27, 2008 CSL TFC Academy vs Trois-Rivieres Attak (by KAS from Voyageurs message board)". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  17. "Attak FC". February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. "Italia Shooters extend lead in International Division with 4-1 Canada Day victory over Portugal FC". canadiansoccerleague.ca. June 26, 2008. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  19. Archived September 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  20. Goodbye, Gbeke, we're gonna miss ya Archived June 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  21. Goodbye, Gbeke, we're gonna miss ya – The Province
  22. 韩国铁帅赢得首演 郜林梅开二度广州击败学生军(in Chinese)
  23. 郜林嗅觉破门救主申思强攻险爆冷 中邦3–3战平广州(in Chinese)
  24. Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
  25. @futebolpr, Geraldo Bubniak -. "Charles Gbeke não é mais o técnico do FC Cascavel - Futebolparanaense.net". www.futebolparanaense.net (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  26. "Paranaense: Cascavel cai na real e investe em Karmino Colombini". www.futebolinterior.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  27. "中甲最新积分榜:恒大稳胜摘联赛桂冠 南京有有降级". sports.sina.com.cn. April 3, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
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