Mkhokheli "Kheli" Dube (born 18 June 1983 in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''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 cl ...

) is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

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 le ...

Career

Early career and college

Dube played in the youth system of his hometown team, Zimbabwe Saints, 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 is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for

Lindsey Wilson College Lindsey Wilson College is a private United Methodist-related college in Columbia, Kentucky. Degree programs are offered at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels.. History Lindsey Wilson College was founded in 1903 as a traini ...

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. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

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). Th ...

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). Th ...

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 30 ...

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 association football, soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mi ...

and Delaware Dynasty of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, 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 is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. 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 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 career in The ...

in their opening day victory over

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. 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. Twellman is best known for his play with the New Eng ...

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 match against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

. Dube was runner-up to

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

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. 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 Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

side

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

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 t ...

Personal

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

Honors

Highlanders FC PSL league 2000,01,02 Lindsey Wilson NAIA National Championship 2005 ;Michigan Bucks *

: 2006 ;New England Revolution *

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an official North American association football competition between teams from the Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada, the top divisions in each country. The competition was sanctioned by C ...

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; ...

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dube, Kheli 1983 births Living people Zimbabwean footballers Zimbabwean expatriate 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 soccer players in the United States Expatriate 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 Sportspeople from Bulawayo Highlanders F.C. players Association football forwards