Charles Gbeke (born March 15, 1978) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in Ivory Coast, he made three appearances for the Canada national team. Gbeke began his career with brief stints with

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

and

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

, 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 Ottawa Wizards were a Canadian soccer club which operated in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL), from 2001 to 2003. The team's home stadium was the OZ Optics Stadium. Though the team had a relatively short tenure with the CPSL, the cl ...

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 The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

on loan to the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

, 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 Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

. 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 The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

Championship, where he scored both goals in the Whitecaps' 2–1 victory over

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

. 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

Top 25 of the Decade, a list of the best and most influential players of the previous decade. In 2010, he went overseas to the

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

and secured

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

a promotion to the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

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 Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and is a citizen of Canada. From 1999 to 2001, Gbeke played in France for the

Troyes AC Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC), commonly known as Troyes, is a French association football club, based in Troyes, who play in Ligue 1, the highest level of France's football league system, and plays its home matches at the ...

reserves and in Brazil with clubs Comercial and S. E. Matsubara. During the 2001 season he played with

and with the

. On May 2, 2003, he signed a contract with

of the CPSL. 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 The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional So ...

tournament and postseason. His personal achievement was finishing the season as the club's top goalscorer with 10 goals. In 2004, with Ottawa facing revocation from the league, Gbeke was loan to the

. He would make his debut for the club on June 13, 2004 against the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

, the match marked the return of Gbeke to the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. Coincidentally he would record his first goal for the Lynx against his former club the Vancouver Whitecaps. 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 Ali Ngon Gerba (; born September 4, 1981) is a former professional soccer player who played as a forward. Born in Cameroon, he represented the Canada national team. Club career Canada and United States In 2000 Gerba signed with the Montreal ...

. 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 The Hamilton Thunder were a soccer team located in Hamilton, Ontario, playing in the Western Conference of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The team played its home fixtures at Brian Timmis Stadium until a rent dispute with the city caus ...

, where he scored his first goal in his debut match against London City. He helped Hamilton clinch a playoff spot by clinching the Western Conference title. In 2005, Gbeke had a short stint in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

where he played in Denmark with

Herfølge Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line. Residential areas Holmebækhuse, ...

, but following the team's relegation to the second division he was released from his contract. Following his release he secured a trial with Croatian side

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, 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. With the Impact he scored the insurance goal and had an assist on the winner, in a 2–0 win against the

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

. The following season Gbeke departed from Montreal in order to sign a new deal with the

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. In 2007 Gbeke resigned with the Impact, where he was the top scorer in the

United Soccer Leagues First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

, with 10 goals tied with

forward

Sébastien Le Toux Sébastien Le Toux (; born 10 January 1984) is a French retired professional Association football, footballer who spent the majority of his career in Major League Soccer, including six seasons at Philadelphia Union. A versatile attacker, who in ...

. He was named to the All-League second team 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. During the team's annual awards banquet he was awarded the Impact's Offensive Player of the Year award. In 2008, he was loaned to the Impact's farm team the

Trois-Rivières Attak Trois-Rivières Attak was a Canadian soccer team that played three seasons in the Canadian Soccer League. They formally served as a reserve and academy team for the USL First Division side Montreal Impact. The club was an instant success withi ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

where he made his debut on June 27, 2008 in a 4–0 victory over

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

. He recorded his first goal for Attak the next day on June 28 against TFC Academy in a 3–0 victory.

Back at Vancouver Whitecaps

On June 30, 2008, Gbeke was traded back to Vancouver in return for cash and

Tony Donatelli Anthony "Tony" Donatelli (born June 7, 1984 in Glenside, Pennsylvania) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Baltimore Blast of the Major Arena Soccer League. Career Youth and College Donatelli played for Hunter Soccer ...

going to Montreal. Gbeke scored both goals Vancouver's 2–1 win in the

final against

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. The victory gave the Whitecaps their second USL Championship and also marked Gbeke's first USL Championship. Gbeke won the 2008–2009

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.

Move to China

In February 2010, Gbeke moved to China with his former teammate

Lyle Martin Lyle Martin (born March 25, 1985) is an American soccer player. Career College and amateur Martin made his debut in the football field in 2004, and played college soccer at California State University, Bakersfield, appearing in 79 career games a ...

and signed a contract with

Guangzhou F.C. Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

, which was newly relegated to

in the fallout of a

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

scandal. Gbeke made his China League One debut for Guangzhou against

Beijing BIT Beijing Institute of Technology Football Club (Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学足球俱乐部) or simply BIT is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chine ...

on April 3 and earned a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in 23rd minute, which helped China national team striker

Gao Lin Gao Lin (; born 14 February 1986) is a Chinese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese Super League club Shenzhen. He is the all-time top goalscorer for Guangzhou Evergrande – his previous club – with 113 goals, and has ...

score his first goal for Guangzhou. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, in a 3–3 away draw against Pudong Zobon on April 10. 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

against

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

in 1–0 victory. In total, he earned a total of three caps, all played in 2008, scoring no goals. He represented Canada in two

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches. He was also on the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...

roster but did not play.

Managerial career

In 2015, he was appointed the head coach for

Futebol Clube Cascavel Futebol Clube Cascavel, more commonly referred to as FC Cascavel, is a Brazilian professional association football club in Cascavel, Paraná which currently plays in Série D, the fourth tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeonato ...

in the

Campeonato Paranaense Campeonato Paranaense, which has been contested since 1915, is the top-flight football league of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Format The format has changed in 2014. 12 teams are together in a single group. They play against each other once, ...

, and was dismissed from his post in 2016.

Personal life

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

Honors

Ottawa Wizards * Canadian Professional Soccer League Eastern Conference:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Vancouver Whitecaps *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Guangzhou Evergrande *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Individual *

top scorer:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

Montreal Impact profile
*
archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gbeke, Charles 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Abidjan Ivorian emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Soccer players from Montreal Francophone Quebec people Black Canadian soccer players Association football forwards Canadian soccer coaches Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Canadian expatriate sportspeople in France Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Ivorian footballers Ivorian football managers Ivorian expatriate footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France ES Troyes AC players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Ottawa Wizards players Toronto Lynx players Trois-Rivières Attak players Hamilton Thunder players Herfølge Boldklub players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Rochester New York FC players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Guangzhou F.C. players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL First Division players Expatriate footballers in France Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Denmark Canadian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in China China League One players A-League (1995–2004) players FC Cascavel managers Ivorian expatriate football managers