Vincent Chileshe: Difference between revisions

He made his international debut on 26 March 1977 at the age of 19 in a friendly against Malawi which Zambia won 8–1 and he did enough to convince fans that a talented goalkeeper had arrived on the scene. Nicknamed "The Black Cat" he won the [[Zambian Cup|Zambian FA cup]] when Roan beat Mufulira Wanderers 3 – 2 in a thrilling final played at [[Independence Stadium (Zambia)|Independence Stadium]] and was in Zambia's team at the CECAFA tournament later that year. At the end of the season, Chileshe was the surprise choice for the footballer of the year award by the [[Football Association of Zambia]] (FAZ). Amid a lot of public discontent because fans felt the player was too raw and unknown to merit the top award, and that [[Godfrey Chitalu]] should have been the winner as he had done more on the pitch than any other player, and without him, Zambia would not have qualified to the [[1978 African Cup of Nations|1978 CAN]] tournament. Chileshe was however backed by national team captain [[Ackim Musenge]] who said he deserved the award, rather than picking on old timers all the time. Chileshe himself said he did not expect the award but he was pleased that he had won it. "Like all the other players, I was rather surprised at my selection. We all thought one of the old guard would be given the award."<ref>Mijoni, Violet "Chileshe was right choice, insist FAZ" ''Times of Zambia'', 8 February 1978, p.8</ref>

The young goalkeeper was in goal at CAN 1978 in Ghana where Zambia were eliminated after a defeat, a win and a draw against the hosts, Upper Volta and Nigeria respectively.

In 1981, Chileshe was loaned to league champions [[Nchanga Rangers F.C.|Nchanga Rangers]] to help them in their quest to win the African Club Champions Cup but disaster struck when Chileshe broke his right leg in the 85th minute of a league match against [[Mufulira Wanderers F.C.|Mufulira Wanderers]] in April 1981 when he collided with Ashols Melu. Several Rangers players were in tears as their goalkeeper was carried off to the hospital<ref>Anon. "Muf horror," ''Times of Zambia,'' 30 April 1981, p.8</ref> Chileshe was ruled ot for the rest of the season and this proved to be a blow to Rangers' contintental cup aspirations as they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Vita Club of Zaire 4–3 on aggregate in September.

When he recovered, Chileshe made the move to Rangers permanent but moved to Division I side [[ZESCO United F.C.|Zesco United]] in 1984, helping them to a runners-up slot in the BP Challenge Cup, when they lost 2–0 to Mufulira Wanderers. Despite being on the losing side, Chileshe was voted man of the match after pulling off a string of brilliant saves. He was then recalled to the national team and was one of the reserve goalkeepers when Zambia emerged victorious at CECAFA 1984 and he described it as a very emotional moment because he had participated in 4 previous tournaments and they had always failed to finish first. He retired from international football soon after that, his last appearance for Zambia coming on 2 February 1985 in a friendly against Zimbabwe in Gweru.